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Enquête: Europe from the Outside

How Secular is European Secularism?

 

ABSTRACT

European Secularism, one of the many versions of secularism available in the world, was developed in the context predominantly of single-religion societies, after a great deal of religious homogenization had already taken place. It was and remains a modest secularism. However, with the migration of workers from former colonies and the intensification of globalization, pre-Christian (Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain) and post-Christian faiths (Islam and Sikhism) have been thrown together for the first time in modern Europe creating an unprecedented diversity the like of which has not been witnessed in Europe under conditions of modernity. This has destabilized European secular states and the conception of secularism that underpins them. European Secularism is in crisis for as it now turns out it is not quite secular enough.

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Notes on contributors

Rajeev Bhargava

Rajeev Bhargava is Professor, CSDS and was formerly Professor of Political Theory, JNU, New Delhi. His books include Individualism in Social Science (Clarendon Press, 1992), The Promise of India's secular democracy (OUP, 2010), What is Political Theory and Why do we need it (OUP, 2010), and Secularism and its Critics (ed. OUP, 1998).

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