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As Europe is growing unchurched, trends of religious radicalisation seem to increase both within the continent and across the world. Claims are made that migrant integration has overall failed because marginalised and radicalised second generation youth turns to jihadist terrorism networks. This research project takes stock of these contradictory trends of increasing secularism and intensifying radicalisation while turning to countries and regions outside Europe to study the challenges of religious diversity and radicalisation that they face and investigate how they deal with them. The project develops its empirical and analytical research along two lines: It looks at regimes for governing religious diversity in Europe (covering western, southern and southeastern Europe), North Africa, the Middle East, south Asia and Oceania. It compares the norms, laws and practices and seeks to assess their relative success in integrating migrants as well as in countering radicalisation trends. By studying countries outside Europe we seek also to analyse the mutual influences and transfers of norms and practices for governing religious diversity between Europe and other continents as well as the legacy of colonialism in this domain. The second line of work concentrates on religious radicalisation focussing on radicalised movements in different countries and their trajectories. Both lines of work relate our discussion of secularisation and radicalisation to wider societal transformation processes of the 21st century (including increased connectivity and inter-dependence, faster transport and communication, widening inequalities, and the concomitant re-emergence of nationalism). The project will deliver innovative academic thinking on secularisation and radicalisation trends today as well as key messages to policy makers with regard to the governance of religious diversity and the struggle against violent radicalisation movements.
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