Routledge-Giappichelli Studies in Religion, Law and Economics in the Mediterranean Space – serie

This book explores how Islam can impact the structures and performance of firms, financial institutions and capital markets across a range of countries and industries.The Islamic finance industry represents an important reality not only because of the oil wealth of the Gulf states, which have fueled demand for such financial services, but also for an increased demand from a growing Muslim population in the West that aspires to express a full and all-inclusive religious identity. The increased demand for Muslim financial institutions has prompted Western non-Islamic firms to begin providing these services in an interesting effort of acculturation to the new plural scenario.By adopting a multidisciplinary approach, which also takes into account the theological, legal and geopolitical framework, the book offers a comprehensive picture of Islamic financial tools, contracts and business opportunities. Drawing on different fields of expertise, it deals with various themes, such as the theological roots of Islamic economics and finance and its geopolitical impact; the EU policy of cooperation with MENA and GCC countries; the instruments of Islamic finance, its legal principle and ability to become an instrument for enhancing business opportunities; the functioning of Islamic banks; the development of capital markets within a financial model influenced by religious constraints and, finally, the new relationships of this religious financial system with Western legal systems. The book thus provides a complete and extensive overview of the practice of Islamic finance through the lenses offered by studies of economics and management.Providing a careful analysis and an integrated framework of geo-economic and political issues, the book will be a valuable resource for academics, researchers and professionals in International Business, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management, Law and Religion and Intercultural Studies.

This book explores how Islam can impact the structures and performance of firms, financial institutions and capital markets across a range of countries and industries.The Islamic finance industry represents an important reality not only because of the oil wealth of the Gulf states, which have fueled demand for such financial services, but also for an increased demand from a growing Muslim population in the West that aspires to express a full and all-inclusive religious identity. The increased demand for Muslim financial institutions has prompted Western non-Islamic firms to begin providing these services in an interesting effort of acculturation to the new plural scenario.By adopting a multidisciplinary approach, which also takes into account the theological, legal and geopolitical framework, the book offers a comprehensive picture of Islamic financial tools, contracts and business opportunities. Drawing on different fields of expertise, it deals with various themes, such as the theological roots of Islamic economics and finance and its geopolitical impact; the EU policy of cooperation with MENA and GCC countries; the instruments of Islamic finance, its legal principle and ability to become an instrument for enhancing business opportunities; the functioning of Islamic banks; the development of capital markets within a financial model influenced by religious constraints and, finally, the new relationships of this religious financial system with Western legal systems. The book thus provides a complete and extensive overview of the practice of Islamic finance through the lenses offered by studies of economics and management.Providing a careful analysis and an integrated framework of geo-economic and political issues, the book will be a valuable resource for academics, researchers and professionals in International Business, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management, Law and Religion and Intercultural Studies.

This collection addresses many of the issues arising from the management of religious and cultural diversity in a multicultural society and refers to the complex relationship between the right to religious freedom and security. In recent decades, and particularly since September 2001, the right to religious freedom, which has hitherto been widely protected, has come up against a significant challenge in terms of security, or rather, in the subjectively and publicly perceived feelings of security. This book collects original theoretical, legal and comparative contributions addressing several implications for the right to freedom of religion or belief through the lens of security. It offers a new key to understanding how to manage the processes of integration of religious diversity in multifaith societies. Written by leading experts in the area, the work reveals the importance of avoiding simplistic conclusions and unfounded prejudices about religious freedom, and of limiting restrictive or repressive interventions to situations of genuine danger.The book will be an essential resource for researchers, academics and policy-makers working in the areas of Law and Religion, Human Rights Law and Security Studies.

This collection addresses many of the issues arising from the management of religious and cultural diversity in a multicultural society and refers to the complex relationship between the right to religious freedom and security. In recent decades, and particularly since September 2001, the right to religious freedom, which has hitherto been widely protected, has come up against a significant challenge in terms of security, or rather, in the subjectively and publicly perceived feelings of security. This book collects original theoretical, legal and comparative contributions addressing several implications for the right to freedom of religion or belief through the lens of security. It offers a new key to understanding how to manage the processes of integration of religious diversity in multifaith societies. Written by leading experts in the area, the work reveals the importance of avoiding simplistic conclusions and unfounded prejudices about religious freedom, and of limiting restrictive or repressive interventions to situations of genuine danger.The book will be an essential resource for researchers, academics and policy-makers working in the areas of Law and Religion, Human Rights Law and Security Studies.

On both Mediterranean shores, women’s agency is articulated by new social and legal actors that face the religious factor both as an asset and as a brake. This book explores how female agency is defined and takes place in the region. The collection brings together contributions of both theoretical and thematic nature mapping various experiences on the public role of women in the Mediterranean context. In particular, the book relates the two sides, observing affinities and differences in the affirmation of women’s agency. This synoptic approach avoids essentialist contraposition and dialectic between different cultural, religious and political universes and emphasizes the role of a common geopolitical space where women's agency is playing an increasingly decisive role in the building and defense of constitutional democratic political systems. The reflection is enriched by the specific analysis of the role of a “religious factor” in the process of affirmation or, in contrast, as a restraint on women’s agency. The book focuses both on the role of women believers in the processes of transformation of the political contexts of the North African and Euro-Mediterranean area, and on the role of women within religions, questioning from inside the patriarchal traditions of the latter. The book applies a multidisciplinary approach to the theme of women’s agency, in which law, sociology, theology and philosophy interact with each other. As such, it will be a valuable resource for those working in the areas of Human Rights Law, Law and Religion, Socio-legal Studies and Gender Studies.

This book investigates ways ‘the Other’ can be both a cause of and an answer to religious and cultural fears. The multi-layered question of cultural and religious diversity has received some attention recently both in academic and policy circles. The authors of this work address this issue by focusing on fears and phobias, and the ways they are historically and sociologically produced and reproduced in a Global Era. The volume presents examples of fears related to different cultures and religions from a multidisciplinary perspective. Some of these have been provoked or sublimated by religious fundamentalisms, and a double ignorance, that is, ignorance of and about fundamentalisms, which have helped feed these collective concerns. Through a sample of stereotypes, mystifications and simplifications, the authors look at Islam as a focal lens for showing the current power of globalized collective fears. The collection also explores possible cultural antidotes to these phobias, such as the need for awareness and familiarity with diversities, based on an education accepting of interculturality and plural citizenship. The book will be essential reading for academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the areas of Intercultural Pedagogy, History, Anthropology and Sociology of Religions, Law and Religion, Contemporary Islam, Migration Studies, Interreligious Dialogue, and Ethnography.