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German unification has been hugely debated among politicians and intellectuals who all seem to agree that its impact on the whole country was probably underestimated. The aim of this paper is to suggest that by going its own path, by appropriating the changes, East Germans have found a way of affirming a new identity which, in some aspects, represents continuity with the socialist past while in other aspects breaks with it. This text draws on the example of offender rehabilitation programmes in Berlin, Brandenburg, and Saxony-Anhalt as a product of the interplay of religious and secular institutions that emerged after 1989. The paper shows the particular understanding of religion amid secularity dominant in Eastern Germany. The author argues that such an understanding has most powerfully come up during the 1990s, a time that is often mentioned nowadays in the narratives of East Germans and in those of the analysed institutions.

This article proposes an interpretational strategy allowing us to study religious plurality in a variety of institutions based on the case of penal institutions. The matrix is a synthesis of various recommendations shared by many researchers working on religion in public institutions. To get beyond an approach limiting itself to an institutional, or even organisational, definition of the religious and its representatives and to take the importance of the power issues permeating it in this context into account, the author looks at three aspects: focusing on the religion of various people present in the institution; paying attention to the material and spatial arrangements; taking the 'symbolic' dimension of the institution studied into account; from a methodological point of view, making room for an ethnographic approach. Such an approach allows us to grasp the religious in the institution's 'grey areas'. This concept is defined and illustrated by the Swiss case.

This article explores the way in which prison institutions resist to religious diversity in three national contexts: Italy, Germany and Switzerland. The author observes a phenomenon which contributes to this resistance and that she calls 'institutional neutralisation of Christianity'. Although they are secular state institutions, prisons' profound Christian heritage impacts at a variety of levels beyond their chaplaincies. With the help of Durkheim's and Foucault's contributions on punishment, the author identifies in the punishment-rehabilitation complex a mediator of this Christian heritage contributing to its institutional neutralisation. An illustration of these theoretical insights by empirical observation concludes the article. Adapted from the source document.

Regularities identified by the author in the Swiss socio-religious sphere suggest that the "pluralization thesis" cannot fully explain the contemporary complexity of this sphere. The author discusses the implications of an alternative approach to the pluralization thesis, that is, the theory of the regulation of religion. After giving a brief presentation of four broad types of regulation theories, the author proposes a theoretical framework drawing from all four types, but differing from them by the emphasis it puts on the reintegration of the actor in the sociological analysis of religion. She thus introduces the concept of "mediating institutions", which offers a way out of the theoretical dichotomy of pluralization versus regulation. As an example, she traces the recent evolution of church-state relationships by exploring the current discussions concerning the introduction of cultural teaching on religion into the Swiss school education system.

This book examines how prisons meet challenges of religious diversity, in an era of increasing multiculturalism and globalization. Social scientists studying corrections have noted the important role that religious or spiritual practice can have on rehabilitation, particularly for inmates with coping with stress, mental health and substance abuse issues. In the past, the historical figure of the prison chaplain operated primarily in a Christian context, following primarily a Christian model. Increasingly, prison populations (inmates as well as employees) display diversity in their ethnic, cul

This book examines how prisons meet challenges of religious diversity, in an era of increasing multiculturalism and globalization. Social scientists studying corrections have noted the important role that religious or spiritual practice can have on rehabilitation. In the past, the historical figure of the prison chaplain operated primarily in a Christian context, following primarily a Christian model. Increasingly, prison populations (inmates as well as employees) display diversity in their ethnic, cultural, religious and geographic backgrounds. As public institutions, prisons are compelled to uphold the human rights of their inmates, including religious freedom. Prisons face challenges in approaching religious plurality and secularism, and maintaining prisoners' legal rights to religious freedom. The contributions to this work present case studies that examine how prisons throughout Europe have approached challenges of religious diversity. Featuring contributions from the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, this interdisciplinary volume includes contributions from social and political scientists, religion scholars and philosophers examining the role of religion and religious diversity in prison rehabilitation. It will be of interest to researchers in Criminology and Criminal Justice, Social and Political Science, Human Rights, Public Policy, and Religious Studies.

English The authors of this article analyse the social representations of religious diversity in Switzerland and the expectations regarding the State in this sphere. Analysis of recent empirical data shows that the large majority of the population associates positively established churches with political power and expects the State to frame the social and political recognition of religious diversity. On the one hand, Christianity appears an important social, cultural, ethical and political reference for many people. On the other hand, the State is expected to regulate the ``other'' religions, in particular to limit the potential violence or destabilization that is commonly associated with them. According to the authors, this way of combining the religious and the political realm calls into question the privatization thesis and shows the need to rethink religious establishment when considering religious pluralization. French Les auteurs de cet article proposent une analyse des représentations sociales concernant la diversité religieuse en Suisse et les attentes à l'égard de l'état dans ce domaine. L'analyse empirique de données récentes montre que la grande majorité de la population associe positivement é glises établies et pouvoir politique, et attend de l'état qu'il encadre la reconnaissance sociale et politique de la diversité religieuse. D'un coté, le christianisme apparat comme une référence sociale, culturelle, éthique et politique importante pour une grande partie de la population. D'un autre coté, l'état est considéré comme le régulateur des ''autres'' religions, notamment pour limiter le potentiel de violence ou de déstabilisation sociale qui leur est associé. Selon les auteurs, cette manière de combiner religieux et politique questionne la thèse de la privatisation et pousse à penser conjointement pluralisation et établissement religieux.

In postsocialist Potsdam, religious diversity has risen surprisingly in public life since 1990 although more than 80% of the residents have no religious affiliation. City and state authorities have actively embraced issues around immigration and integration as well as the promotion of religious diversity and interreligious dialogue and have linked this to the agenda of rejuvenating the city's religious heritage. For years, negotiations have been going on about the need of a mosque, the reconstructions of a synagogue and the so-called "Garrison Church," a landmark military church building. These initiatives have been dominating the public space for different reasons. They implied, beyond religion, questions of memory, identity, immigration, and culture. This article puts these three cases into perspective to offer a nuanced understanding of the importance of religious spaces in secular contexts considering city politics.