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The Conseil d'Etat and secularism. The advice rendered on 27 november 1989
The 27 November 1989 advice of the French Conseil d'Etat on the problem concerning secularism raised by a few Muslim girls who came to school with their hair hidden by a scarf signifies a two-fold shift : concerning the expertise function of the Conseil d'Etat, and concerning the meaning of secularism. The author identifies their expressions and seeks to show the issues and the consequences brought up by this double shift.

Sociological research concerning three Catholic "pillar" organizations (the Catholic school system, the Christian hospitals, & the Catholic U) indicates that secularization is not followed by "depillarization" or weakening of the Catholic pillars. It is suggested that there is a process of secularization within the Catholic organizations, with as main components the development of a sociocultural Christianity (a secular surrogate for church religion) & professionalization by which Christian organizations ensure job security & social advancement for its loyal members. Thanks to its informal ties with the Christian pillar organizations, the Parti Social Chretien (Christian Democrat Party) acts on both components by stressing the specific identity & defining the interests of the pillar organizations. This explanation reveals some major aspects of the ties between Catholics (in the sociological sense) & their party, a bond that is certainly not affected by the secularization process. Modified HA.

The War in Afghanistan and Soviet Central Asia,
by Alexandre Bennigsen and Chantai Lemercier-Quelquejay
The events in Iran and Afghanistan have not created a new situation but have served as a catalyst accelerating an existing situation in Soviet Islam and rendering it more dramatic and dangerous. Muslim socialism, fundamentalism or secularism have been introducted into central Asia through many different channels, i.e. through Soviet Muslims in Afghanistan, Afghans in the USSR, foreign Muslims residing in the Soviet Union, finally and especially through foreign radio broadcasts. Islam is no longer just an « ideology » in the USSR, it is increasingly becoming a political force. Realising this, the Soviet authorities have ceased to collaborate with Soviet muslin leaders and have revived a brutal form of anti-Islamic propaganda. Soviet Muslims have discovered by opening themselves to the outside Muslim world that resistance to « big brother » is possible, that Islamic fundamentalism seems younger and more dyna-mic than Marxism-Leninism and also that they belong to Dar-el-Islam, the community of 800 million believers against the infidels.