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Muslim entrepreneurs in public life between India and the Gulf: making good and doing good
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 16:34 authored by Filippo OsellaFilippo Osella, Caroline OsellaMuslim entrepreneurs from Kerala, South India, are at the forefront of India's liberalizing economy, keen innovators who have adopted the business and labour practices of global capitalism in both Kerala and the Gulf. They are also heavily involved in both charity and politics through activity in Kerala's Muslim public life. They talk about their `social mindedness¿ as a combination of piety and economic calculation, the two seen not as excluding but reinforcing each other. By promoting modern education among Muslims, entrepreneurs seek to promote economic development while also embedding economic practices within a framework of ethics and moral responsibilities deemed to be `Islamic¿. Inscribing business into the rhetoric of the `common good¿ also legitimizes claims to leadership and political influence. Orientations towards self-transformation through education, adoption of a `systematic¿ lifestyle, and a generalized rationalization of practices have acquired wider currency amongst Muslims following the rise of reformist influence and are now mobilized to sustain novel forms of capital accumulation. At the same time, Islam is called upon to set moral and ethical boundaries for engagement with the neoliberal economy. Instrumentalist analyses cannot adequately explain the vast amounts of time and money which Muslim entrepreneurs put into innumerable `social¿ projects, and neither `political Islam¿ nor public pietism adequately captures the possibilities or motivations for engagement among contemporary reformist-orientated Muslims.
History
Publication status
- Published
Journal
Journal of the Royal Anthropological InstituteISSN
1359-0987Publisher
Wiley-BlackwellExternal DOI
Issue
S1Volume
15Page range
S202-S221Pages
20.0Department affiliated with
- Anthropology Publications
Notes
Part of Special Edition Edited by F. Osella and B. Soares, submitted with the introduction.Full text available
- No
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2012-02-06Usage metrics
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