----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com>
> Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
>
> >Ian, if I were to choose between finanzkapital and islamic
fundamentalism,
> >I would not think twice before choosing the former. I think that
most
> >people would make a similar choice. Only those who are completely
blinded
> >by religious zeal or ideology would do otherwise.
>
> Yeah, but it's not like you can just choose "finanzkapital." It
> depends on an entire imperial hierarchy, which produces inequalities
> and exclusions.
>
> Doug
========================
Well, I hope I wasn't conveying that those were our choices. I do think we need to look critically at precisely those aspects of Islamic culture that have attempted rapproachment with modernity while simultaneously casting a critical perspective on finanzcapital. Obviously "they" have attempted to theorize risk, credit and equity in different ways from the west and to the extent they may help deepen our criticisms of capitalism we should make the effort to understand the economic consequences of their ethical norms as well as what those norms are. This connects up with what I was saying about the secularization of finance in the west and the shift in ethical norms that drove it.
I have a book titled "Comparing Financial Systems" by Allen and Gale, MIT Press 2001; absolutely no material or index entries under Islam or Muslim or Middle East. This could easily be interpreted as parochial with our struggling lurches towards an internationalism/cosmopolitanism based on getting beyond predatory economic behaviors. If finanzcapital is the driver behind exploitation [ a normative, ethical term if ever there was one] and taking a look at what scholars and critics from Islamic cultures have written will help deepen that criticism then we ought to take a look at the stuff. This is no way to excuse or justify the atrocity, but we need to make every effort to understand any possible motivations for what took place.
Below is a list of some stuff I pulled from the UW library under the library of Congress subject: Islamic Banking. I'm gonna try and look some of them up today, but this ought to be a team effort :-)
Ian
Author Ism¯a`¯il, Muhammad, 1911- Title Critical analysis of capitalism, socialism and Islamic economic order / by Syed Muhammad Ismail Pub info Lahore, Pakistan : Oriental Publications, c1989
Choudhury, Masudul Alam, 1948- Title The foundations of Islamic political economy / Masudul Alam Choudhury and Uzir Abdul Malik Pub info New York : St. Martin's Press, 1992
Chapra, M. Umer (Muhammad Umer), 1933- Title Islam and economic development : a strategy for development with justice and stability / M. Umer Chapra Pub info Islamabad : International Institute of Islamic Thought and Islamic Research Institute, 1993
Kh¯am, ¯Abadula Jabb¯ara Title Non-interest banking in Pakistan : concept, practice and evaluation / Abdul Jabbar Khan Pub info Karachi, Pakistan : Royal Book Co., 1991
Strategic issues in Islamic banking / edited by Sayed Riaz Ahmad, Nasir Ali Pub info Rawalpindi : The Bank of Punjab : in collaboration with Frozsons, 1995
Wilson, Peter W Title A question of interest : the paralysis of Saudi banking / Peter W. Wilson Pub info Boulder : Westview Press, 1991
Saeed, Abdullah Title Islamic banking and interest : a study of the prohibition of riba and its contemporary interpretation / by Abdullah Saeed Pub info Leiden ; New York : E.J. Brill, 1996
An Introduction to Islamic finance / edited by Sheikh Ghazali Sheikh Abod, Syed Omar Syed Agil, Aidit Hj. Ghazali Pub info Kuala Lumpur : Quill Publishers, c1992
Sudin Haron Title Islamic banking : rules & regulations / Sudin Haron Pub info Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia : Pelanduk Publications, c1997
Warde, Ibrahim Title Islamic finance in the global economy Pub info Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 2000
Mills, Pauls S Title Islamic finance : theory and practice / Paul S. Mills and John R. Presley Pub info New York : St. Martin's Press, 1999
Henry, Clement M., 1937- Title The Mediterranean debt crescent : money and power in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey / Clement M. Henry Pub info Gainesville, Fla. : University Press of Florida, c1996
Theoretical studies in Islamic banking and finance / edited by Mohsin S. Khan, Abbas Mirakhor Pub info Houston, Tex. : Institute for Research and Islamic Studies, 1987
Ahmad, Mahm¯ud Title Towards interest-free banking / Shaikh Mahmud Ahmad Pub info Lahore, Pakistan : Institute of Islamic Culture, 1989