Policy Press
One Introduction: religion and social policy – an “old–new” partnership
Abstract
Religious faith has a major part to play in the formation of values that guide the modern world. It also has a prominent role in the advancement of progress. It is believed that Faith and Reason and Faith and Progress have an alliance rather than contention. Once the muse of the founding fathers of social sciences, today religion has become mostly associated with the regressive impulse and has become a cultural artefact. By the turn of the 1970s, few scholars had imagined the centrality of religion in the new millennium. However, in the last decades, religion has found its prominence again, seen in the centrality of faith and religion in social and political mobilisations worldwide. This book questions the relevance of religion to model social welfare. It focuses on the Middle East region, deemed the most religious capital of the world. It seeks to open up a broader debate on the contribution of religiously inspired social welfare to the study and practice of contemporary social policy. In examining the role of religious welfare, specifically of Islam in the Middle East, this book aims not only to contribute to the understanding of social welfare practices and institutions in the Islamic tradition, but also to elucidate on how social welfare provision constitutes the comparative advantage that major Islamic social movements like the Hizbullah, Hamas, the Justice and Development Party, and the Muslim Brotherhood have over their respective governing state bodies.
Abstract
Religious faith has a major part to play in the formation of values that guide the modern world. It also has a prominent role in the advancement of progress. It is believed that Faith and Reason and Faith and Progress have an alliance rather than contention. Once the muse of the founding fathers of social sciences, today religion has become mostly associated with the regressive impulse and has become a cultural artefact. By the turn of the 1970s, few scholars had imagined the centrality of religion in the new millennium. However, in the last decades, religion has found its prominence again, seen in the centrality of faith and religion in social and political mobilisations worldwide. This book questions the relevance of religion to model social welfare. It focuses on the Middle East region, deemed the most religious capital of the world. It seeks to open up a broader debate on the contribution of religiously inspired social welfare to the study and practice of contemporary social policy. In examining the role of religious welfare, specifically of Islam in the Middle East, this book aims not only to contribute to the understanding of social welfare practices and institutions in the Islamic tradition, but also to elucidate on how social welfare provision constitutes the comparative advantage that major Islamic social movements like the Hizbullah, Hamas, the Justice and Development Party, and the Muslim Brotherhood have over their respective governing state bodies.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures v
- Acknowledgements vi
- List of Arabic words with English translations vii
- List of abbreviations viii
- Map of the Middle East ix
- Introduction: religion and social policy – an “old–new” partnership 1
- Religion and the foundations of social policy 25
- Lebanon: a profile of political and welfare institutions 69
- A philosophy of social service: faith or social insurance? 85
- Systems of provision and welfare outcomes: defining and treating the causes of poverty 139
- Social solidarity: between power and morality 195
- Social ethics and welfare particularism 223
- What next for the Middle East? Re-reading history, re-visioning future possibilities of positive action 251
- Conclusion 261
- Bibliography 269
- Appendix A: Lebanon country profile 299
- Appendix B: Social protection institutions and coverage 301
- Index 303
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures v
- Acknowledgements vi
- List of Arabic words with English translations vii
- List of abbreviations viii
- Map of the Middle East ix
- Introduction: religion and social policy – an “old–new” partnership 1
- Religion and the foundations of social policy 25
- Lebanon: a profile of political and welfare institutions 69
- A philosophy of social service: faith or social insurance? 85
- Systems of provision and welfare outcomes: defining and treating the causes of poverty 139
- Social solidarity: between power and morality 195
- Social ethics and welfare particularism 223
- What next for the Middle East? Re-reading history, re-visioning future possibilities of positive action 251
- Conclusion 261
- Bibliography 269
- Appendix A: Lebanon country profile 299
- Appendix B: Social protection institutions and coverage 301
- Index 303
