Religion in Secularizing Society

The cross-national analyses of Europe's patterns of religious and moral orientations presented in this book are all based on the 1990 European Values Study survey data and some use both 1981 and 1990 data. Use is also made of more recent data gathered in 1995/1997 within the framework of the World Values Study, directed by Ron Inglehart, as well as data from a recent pilot survey in Japan. The contributions in this book are not written within a common theoretical framework, but from different theoretical perspectives and scientific backgrounds and interests. However, a majority of the chapters focus on the Catholic and Protestant divide in Europe. All in all, the contributions in this book show (parts) of the religious and moral culture in contemporary secularizing societies.