Social Welfare and Religion in the Middle East


Book Description

The original analysis in this book presents a new and comprehensive narrative of social welfare in the Middle East through an examination of the role of religious welfare.




Privatizing Welfare in the Middle East


Book Description

Examines the effects of neoliberal economic reforms on middle classes in the Middle East. Based on fieldwork and interviews with members, non-members, and policymakers, this title provides fresh insights into democratization, liberalization, and civil society.




The Oxford Handbook of Politics in Muslim Societies


Book Description

Politics in Muslim societies : what's religion got to do with it? / Melani Cammett and Pauline Jones -- Islam and political structure in historical perspective / Eric Chaney -- State-formation, statist Islam, and regime instability : evidence from Turkey / Kristin E. Fabbe -- States, religion, and democracy in Southeast Asia : comparative religious regime formation / Kikue Hamayotsu -- Repression of Islamists and authoritarian survival in the Arab world : a case study of Egypt / Jean Lachapelle -- Regime types, regime transitions, and religion in Pakistan / Matthew J. Nelson -- Regime change under the Party of Justice and Development (AKP) in Turkey / Feryaz Ocaklı -- Islam, nationalism, and democracy in Asia : nations under gods or gods under nations? / Maya Tudor -- Military politics in Muslim societies / Nicholas J. Lotito -- Voting for Islamists : mapping the role of religion / Ellen Lust, Kristen Kao, and Gibran Okar -- Party systems in Muslim societies / Elizabeth R. Nugent -- Ideologies, brands, and demographics in Muslim Southeast Asia : "voting for Islam" / Thomas Pepinsky -- Religion and party politics in India and Pakistan / Steven I. Wilkinson -- Religion and electoral competition in Senegal / Dominika Koter -- Clientelism, constituency services, and elections in Muslim societies / Daniel Corstange and Erin York -- Religiosity and political attitudes in Turkey during the AKP era / S. Erdem Aytaç -- Religious practice and political attitudes among Shiites in Iran and Iraq / Fotini Christia, Elizabeth Dekeyser, and Dean Knox -- Repressive religious regulation and political mobilization in Central Asia : why Muslims (don't) rebel / Dustin Gamza and Pauline Jones -- How extraordinary was the Arab Spring? Examining "protest potential" in the Muslim world / Avital Livny -- Illicit economies and political violence in Central Asia / Lawrence P. Markowitz, and Mariya Y. Omelicheva -- Piety, devotion, and support for Shari'a : examining the link between religiosity and political attitudes in Pakistan / Niloufer A. Siddiqui -- Mapping and explaining Arab attitudes toward the Islamic State : findings from an Arab barometer survey and embedded experiment / Mark Tessler, Michael Robbins, and Amaney Jamal -- Social movements, parties, and political cleavages in Morocco : a religious divide? / Adria Lawrence -- The rise and impact of Muslim women preaching online / Richard A. Nielsen -- Religion and mobilization in the Syrian uprising and war / Wendy Pearlman -- Christian-Muslim relations in the shadow of conflict : insights from Kaduna, Nigeria / Alexandra Scacco and Shana S. Warren -- New media and Islamist mobilization in Egypt / Alexandra A. Siegel -- Islamically framed mobilization in Tunisia : Ansar al-Sharia in the aftermath of the Arab uprisings / Frédéric Volpi -- Islamist mobilization during the Arab uprisings / Chantal Berman -- Religious legitimacy and long run economic growth in the Middle East / Jared Rubin -- Islam and economic development : the case of non-Muslim minorities in the Middle East and North Africa / Mohamed Saleh -- State institutions and economic performance in 19th century Egypt / Lisa Blaydes and Safinaz El Tarouty -- Colonial legacies and welfare provision in the Middle East and North Africa / Melani Cammett, Allison Spencer Hartnett, and Gabriel Koehler-Derrick -- Islam and the politics of development : shrines and literacy in Pakistan / Adeel Malik and Rinchan Mirza -- Islam and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa / Melina R. Platas -- Islamic finance and development in Malaysia / Fulya Apaydin -- Welfare states in the Middle East / Ferdinand Eibl -- Islamist organizations and the provision of social services / Steven Thomas Brooke -- Exploring the role of Islam in Mali : service provision, citizenship, and governance / Jaimie Bleck and Alex Thurston -- Islamist parties and women's representation in Morocco : taking one for the team / Lindsay J. Benstead -- The Islamic State as a revolutionary rebel group : IS' governance and violence in historical context / Megan A. Stewart.




Islam, Charity, and Activism


Book Description

Throughout the Middle East, Islamist charities and social welfare organizations play a major role in addressing the socioeconomic needs of Muslim societies, independently of the state. Through case studies of Islamic medical clinics in Egypt, the Islamic Center Charity Society in Jordan, and the Islah Women's Charitable Society in Yemen, Janine A. Clark examines the structure and dynamics of moderate Islamic institutions and their social and political impact. Questioning the widespread assumption that such organizations primarily serve the poorer classes, Clark argues that these organizations in fact are run by and for the middle class. Rather than the vertical recruitment or mobilization of the poor that they are often presumed to promote, Islamic social institutions play an important role in strengthening social networks that bind middle-class professionals, volunteers, and clients. Ties of solidarity that develop along these horizontal lines foster the development of new social networks and the diffusion of new ideas.




A Social Revolution


Book Description

For decades, political observers and pundits have characterized the Islamic Republic of Iran as an ideologically rigid state on the verge of collapse, exclusively connected to a narrow social base. In A Social Revolution, Kevan Harris convincingly demonstrates how they are wrong. Previous studies ignore the forceful consequences of three decades of social change following the 1979 revolution. Today, more people in the country are connected to welfare and social policy institutions than to any other form of state organization. In fact, much of Iran’s current political turbulence is the result of the success of these social welfare programs, which have created newly educated and mobilized social classes advocating for change. Based on extensive fieldwork conducted in Iran between 2006 and 2011, Harris shows how the revolutionary regime endured though the expansion of health, education, and aid programs that have both embedded the state in everyday life and empowered its challengers. This first serious book on the social policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran opens a new line of inquiry into the study of welfare states in countries where they are often overlooked or ignored.




Social Welfare in The Middle East


Book Description

First published in 1987, this book analyses social welfare in the major countries of the Middle East, at that time. For each country it considers the ideological framework underlying the social welfare system and describes the historical development of both the system and the political and socio-economic context. Each chapter looks at the structure and administration of the systems in place and how the systems are financed. Contributions examine the nature of the different parts of the welfare system, surveying social security, personal social services, and the treatment of the following key target groups: the aged; those with disabilities and handicaps; children and youth; disadvantaged families; the unemployed; and the sick and injured. Each chapter concludes with an assessment of the effectiveness of the system considered.




Social Dictatorships


Book Description

Why have social spending levels and social policy trajectories diverged so drastically across labour-abundant Middle Eastern and North African regimes? And how can we explain the marked persistence of spending levels after divergence? Using historical institutionalism and a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods Social Dictatorships: The Political Economy of the Welfare State in the Middle East and North Africa develops an explanation of social spending in authoritarian regimes. It emphasizes the importance of early elite conflict and attempts to form a durable support coalition under the constraints imposed by external threats and scarce resources. Social Dictatorships utilizes two in-depth case studies of the political origins of the Tunisian and Egyptian welfare state to provide an empirical overview of how social policies have developed in the region, and to explain the marked differences in social policy trajectories. It follows a multi-level approach tested comparatively at the cross-country level and process-traced at micro-level by these case studies.




Social Policy in the Middle East and North Africa


Book Description

This book presents a state of the art in the developing field of social policy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It offers an up-to-date conceptual analysis of social policy programmes and discourses in the MENA region by critically reviewing the range of social insurance and social assistance schemes that are currently in existence there. It also analyses and offers suggestions on which of these policies can positively impact the region’s advancement in terms of human development and in addressing social and economic inequalities and exclusion.




Subsidy Reform in the Middle East and North Africa


Book Description

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries price subsidies are common, especially on food and fuels. However, these are neither well targeted nor cost effective as a social protection tool, often benefiting mainly the better off instead of the poor and vulnerable. This paper explores the challenges of replacing generalized price subsidies with more equitable social safety net instruments, including the short-term inflationary effects, and describes the features of successful subsidy reforms.




Women, Work and Welfare in the Middle East and North Africa


Book Description

"In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, and in light of socio-economic and geopolitical challenges facing governments old and new, women's rights and empowerment have gained new urgency and relevance. Groups in power, or groups contesting for power, are more conservative than expected, and there are serious threats to roll back some of the gains women had achieved over the past 20-30 years on economic and social fronts. The global gender debate has neglected the economic dimension of women's empowerment and a great deal of debate and interest among researchers is needed to push the topics further. This timely book brings together leading regional researchers to offer original research linking gender equality with economic policy, reinforcing the agenda from a broad-based perspective."--Publisher summary.