This volume presents the outcomes of qualitative research on the meaning of religion in selected CEE regions. In several case studies, we reveal some features of social perception of religion present in verbalized and institutionalized social experiences and practices. We argue these societies develop their own social model of religion, which seems to be largely based on cultural, religious, and historical schemes dating back to the Habsburg Monarchy. They locate religious identity on a continuum with civic identity. Historical diversity may be endorsed as "traditional pluralism" while equality and tolerance is considered unnecessary. Capturing contradicting images of historical and contemporary pluralism may offer new insight into the puzzle of religion and politics in the CEE region.

This collection of articles is the result of the research project "The Polish local society in the process of European integration - a decade of experience", financed by the Polish National Science Centre (NCN). The aim was to investigate the process of integration in the EU of six selected local Polish communities. The same six communities had been studied ten years before, when Poland was preparing for the EU accession. The research was based on qualitative methodology. The results show that the knowledge of the EU in local Poland remains at a very low level. The exception is competence in the field of EU structural funds. These funds are the main factor which determines the positive attitude of Poles towards the EU and the Polish membership in it. At the same time the process of the construction of a European identity in terms of values remains very problematic.