Islam Instrumentalized: Religion and Politics in Historical Perspective

Jean-Philippe Platteau

ISBN 10: 1316609006 / ISBN 13: 9781316609002

Published by Cambridge University Press June 2017, 2017

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 288546

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Islam Instrumentalized: Religion and Politics in Historical Perspective
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press June 2017
• Publication Date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1316609006
• ISBN 13: 9781316609002
• Binding: Trade Paperback
• Condition: Used - Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Religion

About this title

Synopsis

In this book, economist Jean-Philippe Platteau addresses the question: does Islam, the religion of Muslims, bear some responsibility for a lack of economic development in the countries in which it dominates? In his nuanced approach, Platteau challenges the widespread view that the doctrine of Islam is reactionary in the sense that it defends tradition against modernity and individual freedom. He also questions the view that fusion between religion and politics is characteristic of Islam and predisposes it to theocracy. He disagrees with the substantivist view that Islam is a major obstacle to modern development because of a merging of religion and the state, or a fusion between the spiritual and political domains. But he also identifies how Islam's decentralized organization, in the context of autocratic regimes, may cause political instability and make reforms costly.

About the Author

Jean-Philippe Platteau is Professor of Economics at Université de Namur, Belgium. He has devoted his research career to studying the role of institutions in economic development and the processes of institutional change. He is the co-author of Culture, Institutions, and Development: New Insights into an Old Debate (with Robert Peccoud, 2010), and has contributed to volume two of the Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture (2013), as well as several articles for the Journal of Development Economics.