The individualization thesis advanced by sociologists of religion such as Grace Davie, Danièle Hervieu-Léger, Michael Krüggeler, Thomas Luckmann, Hubert Knoblauch, Wade Clark Roof, Wayne E. Baker, and others has become increasingly widespread especially in Europe within the sociology of religion. In contrast to the secularization theory it assumes that processes of modernization will not lead to a decline in the social significance of religion, but rather to a change in its social forms. According to the individualization theory, traditional and institutionalized forms of religiosity will be increasingly replaced by more subjective ones detached form church, individually chosen, and syncretistic in character. The article examines the empirical applicability of the individualization thesis on the basis of how religiosity and church affiliation have evolved in Germany over the past 50 years. It comes to the conclusion that the rise of individually determined non-church religiosity cannot compensate for the losses of institutionalized religiosity, since non-church religiosity remains rather marginal and is interwoven with traditional Christian religiosity. Religious individualization is only a component of the predominant secularization process.

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Even though Muslim communities are virtually absent in most Eastern European societies new research shows that Islamophobia is more widespread in Eastern Europe than in Western Europe. The existence of ‘Islamophobia without Muslims’ is surprising prima facie, but in fact this empirical pattern reflects the assumption of the contact hypothesis. In a nutshell, the contact hypothesis argues that an individual’s contact with members of an ‘outgroup’ is conducive to refute existing prejudice and stereotypes. We test the explanatory power of the contact hypothesis on both the individual and the societal level. Empirically, we draw our data from the European Social Survey (2014), which allows us to conduct a systematic comparison of Eastern and Western European societies and to account for other well-established social psychological theories of prejudice and stereotyping (e. g. Social Identity Theory, Integrated Threat Theory). Our empirical results show that people with less or no contact are more prone to Islamophobic attitudes. This pattern is characteristic for Eastern European countries as the sheer absence of Muslim communities in these societies turns out to be a relevant explanation for anti-Muslim prejudice. Eastern European citizens tend to have para-social-contacts with Muslims. In general, they rely on media and statements of (populist) politicians, to build their opinions about Muslims. Negative news coverage fueled by terrorist attacks shapes the prevailing image of all Muslims, media consumption therefore intensifies already existing anti-Muslim sentiments. As a result, Eastern European countries have been comparatively unpopular choices for migrants to settle.

Com esta pesquisa Gert Pickel propõe uma revisão atualizada da narrativa da secularização, contrapondo- a aos fenômenos crescentes de pluralização religiosa, polarização secular-religioso e politização da religiosidade. O artigo foca-se, sobretudo, no cenário religioso europeu de finais do século XX e inícios do século XXI, analisando os desenvolvimentos empíricos nos seus índices de secularização, nomeadamente ao nível individual. Para tanto o autor recorre a diversos dados estatísticos que consideram as atitudes das pessoas em face da religião, considerando os diferentes níveis de modernização, bem como as diversas vicissitudes histórico-culturais, religiosas e políticas dos países. O artigo conclui que, não obstante a proliferação dos assuntos religiosos no debate público, a secularização continua sendo empiricamente mais convincente do que a narrativa do regresso das religiões. Contudo, continuamos longe de poder falar de uma Europa secular.

Zusammenfassung Immer wieder werden Bezüge zwischen Religion und Vorurteilen hergestellt. Zum einen dienen religiöse Gruppen als Ziel von Vorurteilen, zum anderen wird debattiert, inwieweit der Wahrheitsanspruch von Religionen religiöse Menschen für Vorurteile anfälliger macht. Im Artikel werden mithilfe des aktuellen KONID Survey 2019 beide Fragen empirisch und Ländervergleichend untersucht. Trotz einzelner Abweichungen in Ausprägungen und Bezügen von Vorurteilen, sind die Strukturen der Vorurteile, ihre Erklärung sowie ihre demokratischen Auswirkungen in Deutschland und der Schweiz sehr ähnlich. Religionsgemeinschaften und ihre Mitglieder geraten vor allem aufgrund von Bedrohungsängsten in der Bevölkerung, aber auch Verschwörungstheorien und autoritären Einstellungen in den Fokus von Vorurteilen. Dabei wirkt eine dogmatische, exklusivistisch gedachte und teilweise fundamentalistische religiöse Identität als Vorurteile befördernd, während eine liberale religiöse Identität Antisemitismus, antimuslimischen Rassismus, aber auch Antiziganismus und die Ablehnung von Nichtbinären Geschlechteridentitäten entgegenwirkt.

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