The overall project aim is to extend knowledge about values and religions in Europe by the investigation of communities representing various values and religious beliefs in New Member States. The strategic objectives of this proposal are to

• - assess the degree of subgroup differentiation in the post-communist societies,
• - to study how the differentiation process is proceeding,
• - to investigate the degree to which the subgroup structures and processes vary in several post-communist countries,
• - to compare both the subgroup structure and the differentiation processes in the post-communist societies to those observed in Western Europe.

How groups arise, function and disappear is of interest both in terms of theory and practice. The scientific interest arises because the matter is topical for the social sciences (e.g. anthropology, sociology) and also because the dynamics of these groups is clearly nonlinear; and recent advances in computational tools make the study of such processes finally possible. These topics are of great practical concern and applicability because they have an impact on solving such crucial issues as social cohesion, inter-group tensions, discord and violence.

The project will take advantage of an interdisciplinary approach based on the methodology of cultural/social/political anthropology. This will be implemented through the fieldwork which will focus on an in-depth integration of researchers into the groups under analysis with the purpose of revealing meanings of the real life as well as understanding the meanings of values and religions as being derived from these groups and spread into the society-at-large.

For evaluation of research results and recommendations a novel approach of field-testing will be used, providing there will be a possibility to effectively exploit recommendations of the project in real field conditions with participation of the groups under analysis.