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Restriction, Simplification, and Externalization: How German Refugee Accommodation Centres Deal with Diversity Related Uncertainty


 Since the very beginning of the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ European debates about the reception and accommodation of refugees have circled around religious issues: Some (of the most secularized) post-socialist countries rediscovered their Christian cultural heritage as an argument against the immigration of Muslims, and in Germany, reports on interreligious conflicts nurtured claims for a separation of refugees along with religious lines. The article draws from an extensive case study on religious diversity and practice in refugee accommodation centres in Lower Saxony. It focuses on the administrative staff and the social workers in these centres who face a high degree of uncertainty due to the multi-religious and multicultural constellations they encounter. To cope with this religious illiteracy and to transform uncertainty into certainty, they apply three kinds of strategies, namely Restriction of the scope of legitimate religious expression, Simplification of religious and cultural heterogeneity through culturalist stereotypes, and an Externalization of responsibilities to deal with religious differences, such as dietary needs.