In this article the author constructs a typology of the different senses secularization has been understood, and how these various senses correlate to different models of secularization in the modern world. He engages with the works of Jürgen Habermas and argues that Habermas’s conception of secularization is too closely linked to the European model in which secularization and modernization are correlated. Casanova argues that the world may be becoming “post‑secular,” characterized by the re‑emergence of religion as a public issue in some societies.

This article analyses what secularism could mean for the modern democratic society. It claims that secularism should pursuit three main goals: freedom (no one must be forced in the domain of religion, or basic belief ); equality (there must be equality between people of different faiths or basic belief ); fraternity (all spiritual families must be heard and included in the ongoing process of determining what the society is about).