This collection of essays examines how ''the secular'' is constituted and understood, and how new understandings of secularism and religion shape analytic perspectives in the social sciences, politics, and international affairs. an up-to-date report about the contemporary state of discussion concerning the categories of secular, secularization, and secularism and the problems grouped around this words. The well-tested and validated theses, with a lot of empirical, detailed examples and models, are founded on solid erudition, deep knowledge, and skills of the competent authors.