ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines what WREP stands for and how the project came about. It reflects on the background to the study: what were the changes taking place both in Europe and beyond which prompted an enquiry of this nature. The chapter presents the building blocks of the project that is, the concepts and ideas that have underpinned the thinking. It begins from a different starting point, in the sense that it explains the organizational environment from which Welfare and Religion in a European Perspective (WREP) emerged; how, more precisely, the project found its inspiration in the ongoing work of the Centre for the Study of Religion and Society in Uppsala. The chapter sets out the research methods employed in the study: how were the various elements in the project operationalized, and how were they examined empirically. The European situation, just like a European project, is not only complex but full of internal contradictions, to which solutions must, be found.
