Islam and Capitalism in the Making of Modern Bahrain

Description

In recent decades, the culture, society, politics, and economics of Bahrain have been transformed, driving its global ambitions while retaining to a degree the rule of law and cosmopolitanism. Islam and Capitalism in the Making of Modern Bahrain examines the transformation of Bahrain from the 1930s, from a regional trading port and then an important oil producer into the financial hub for the Gulf and into a global centre of Islamic finance. It focuses on the changes and tensions that transformation brought to Bahrain's political, legal, economic, religious, and social structures. In this book, Rajeswary Brown explores the rising force of youth populism driven by the persistence of poverty and unemployment, notably among rural Shi'ite communities and unemployed middle-class youth, as well as examining Bahrain's skillful reconciliation of the demands of Islamic faith, expressed in the Sharia, to the requirements of modern financial capitalism. In this, Bahrain's experience can be set against the modern history of much of the rest of the Middle East, most strikingly with respect to the position of Islamic charities, notably in Syria, comparisons of which are fully explored here. cover titlepage copyright dedication Acknowledgements Contents List of Figures List of Tables List of Abbreviations 1 Introduction: In the Shadow of Ethical Capitalism"2014The State, Law, Oil, and the Economic Transformation of Bahrain 2 Land, Waqf, Ma'tam, and the Moral Economy 3 Islamic Banking in Bahrain: Religious Principles and Economic Performance 4 The Bahrain Stock Market: Law, Growth, and Performance 5 The Stock Market: Dynamics of Socially Responsible Oil and Gold 6 The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 on the Bahrain Economy 7 Bahrain's Arab Spring 8 A Place for the State 9 Transnational Trading Networks 10 Labour Regimes, Mobility, Productivity, and Migrant National Workers 11 Economic Diversification 12 Ethics of Environment: Climate Crisis in the Age of Market Forces 13 Conclusion: Bahrain the Aspiring Hegemon in the Infernal Middle East Arabic–English Glossary Bibliography Index