by Lina Molokotos-Liederman, Research Affiliate, Project ‘Education and Religion in Europe,’ Groupe de Sociologie des Religions et de la Laïcité (GSRL/CNRS), Paris, France; Laboratoire de Recherche Sociale et Politique Appliquée (RESOP), University of Geneva, Switzerland

This chapter addresses the question of how the secularization thesis applies to the case of Greece. This question is particularly relevant given the weight of Greek Orthodoxy on the country’s religious and cultural landscape and on the historical circumstances that have shaped the nation’s political and social life. First we shall look briefly at some of the definitions of and debates on secularization and then highlight specific aspects of Eastern Orthodoxy in relation to the process of secularization. Then we shall continue with an introduction to the larger context in which the Greek case should be viewed, including a brief description of the religious landscape. Finally the conflict over national Identity Cards is used as a case study in order to highlight the ambiguity of the secularization thesis with regard to Greece.

Greece: Selective Secularization and the Deprivatization of Religion?