In an era of globalization and cross-cultural awareness, an interest in the relationship between economics and religion, politics, and social behavior is alive and well. In particular, the Islamic economy has become a focal point of interest for economists and government leaders around the world interested in understanding the relationship between religion and economics among primarily Islamic regions.

Islamic Economy and Social Mobility: Cultural and Religious Considerations analyzes the social, cultural, religious, and political implications of the Islamic economy at the global level. Highlighting the foundations upon which Islamic ideology is formed and how it impacts socio-cultural and economic systems both within and outside of primarily Islamic regions, this publication is an ideal reference source for economists, sociologists, international relations professionals, researchers, academics, and graduate-level students.

Coverage:

The many academic areas covered in this publication include, but are not limited to:

Central Banking
Faith-Based Market Theory
Globalization
Islamic Guilds
Islamic Revival
Middle East Studies
Women and Islam

Reviews & Statements

...a much-needed resource that will help Western Christian as well as Islamic readers to gain perspective on their differences and similarities, on where they’ve come from and where they presently are. [...] Not least, this book sheds new and needed light on the complex of relations, both positive and negative, between the cultures, politics and economies of mid-Eastern Islamic countries on the side, and the United States and Israel on the other.

– Harold J. Bershady, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, US

The present work is unique in its scope and findings in both the fields of Middle East studies, and in the wide range of works on Islamic studies, history, politics and economics. The breathtaking vista of subjects studied from medieval Islamic times and Arab-Persian relations and literary production to the modern period of the Iranian/Islamic revolution and the Arab Spring surely will stir colleagues and general readership alike. Its singular virtues are twofold: a bold assessment of the Arab and Iranian worlds' successes and failures, and the comparative forays into the West versus Middle East and Asian development patterns, past and present. This is a seminal work worth reading.

– Dr. Thomas M. Ricks, former Villanova University Social and Cultural Historian of the Middle East

This book offers a broad perspective on how a country’s place in the global stratification relates not only to her economic and technological capabilities, but also to her identity and orientation in areas of religion, nationalism, and rationality. In this view, stratification is not only an economic category, but also a global human condition shaped by one’s status, vis a vis the “other.”

Marrying the functionalist view of stratification with the Weberian theory of action, Shahpari and Hodjat interrogate the complicated ways in which Muslim identity has interacted with politico-economic challenges of the West as well as with the cultural aspects of modernity in this global age. They do so by taking the reader through the subjective and objective layers of Mulslim identity, history, and geography. A sophisticated historical sociology anchored in synthetic nature of interactions between the East and the West.

– Ali Akbar Mahdi, Ph.D., California State University Northridge, US

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Editor/Author Biographies

Hasan Shahpari has been a faculty member in the department of Sociology at Villanova University, as well as teaching at various educational establishments. Prior to teaching, he was a director of social research and the general director for the Iranian National Radio and Television. Dr. Shahpari received his bachelor degree in Economics from Shiraz (Pahlavi) University in Iran, his MBA from the Iran Center for Management Studies (ICMS), affiliated with Harvard Business School. He got his master’s degree in Medical Sociology and his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. He received a fellowship award on social teachings of Christianity. His works have been published in both Persian and English peer-review journals. He has authored book chapters and has been a reviewer for peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Tahereh Alavi Hojjat is Chair and Professor of Economics at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. She received her bachelor’s degree from Tehran University, Iran, a master’s degree in Economics from the American University, Washington, D.C. and a Ph.D. in Economics and Business from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She is a past recipient of the Teaching Excellence Award from the Eastern Council of Business School and Programs (ECBSP). She has authored book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals of Economics & Business. She is a proposal reviewer for numerous conferences and publishers, as well as a reviewer for Economics and Finance textbooks. Dr. Hojjat has served as an advisory board member of Houghton-Mifflin Publishing and McGraw Hill companies. Dr. Hojjat is ex-officio of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Economic Association.

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