Similar rights, different paths
The organisation of RE in the Flemish and French communities in Belgium
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20503567 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Leni Franken (0000-0003-4324-7823, Centre Pieter Gillis, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium, corresponding author), Caroline Sägesser (Centre de recherche et d’information socio-politiques) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 469-487 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-03 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Beliefs and Values (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1361-7672 • E-ISSN: 1469-9362 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13617672.2024.2441056 |
| OpenAlex | W4406042449 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 8 |
In Belgium, religious education (RE) in six recognised religions and in non-denominational ethics is organised in ‘official’ (i.e. state) schools. This policy, the result of a historical compromise reached in 1958, was anchored in the Constitution in 1988. However, due to increasing religious diversity and secularisation, the organisation of RE in official schools is nowadays a contested issue in the Flemish as well as in the French Community. Notwithstanding several political proposals regarding this issue, the status quo has remained largely unchanged in the Flemish Community. This is different in the French Community, where the weekly hours of RE classes in official schools have been reduced from two to one and where a proposal concerning the reorganisation/elimination of RE classes was recently considered. In this contribution, we will, after a (historical and legal) sketch of the organisation of RE in Belgium, focus on recent shifts in the Flemish and in the French Communities. We will argue that the different evolutions on both sides of the language border are, to a significant extent, the result of different historical, educational, political and ideological contexts
Archaeology · Flemish · Geography · Political science · Comparative and International Law Studies · Dutch Social and Cultural Studies · Migration, Policy, and Dickens Studies
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |