ABSTRACT
Religion in the modern industrial societies still is a significant social fact that in many ways connects everyday social, political, and economic activities. For exploring religion and religiosity in the societies of South-east Europe (SEE), there is a need to set up a basic frame of theoretical perspective that is relating to the religion in SEE. Data on religiosity and social expectations from religion's role could be interpreted within the theoretical perspectives of secularization and individualization, but with avoidance of clear theoretical demarcation. The epistemological foundation of secularization perspective refers to a social process of modernization, from which in all its forms, such as rationalization, industrialization urbanization, functional differentiation. The Human Development Index (HDI) and Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, as indicators of modernization, are used to test the modernization effect on religion/religiosity and social expectations concerning religion's overall role in societies of SEE.
