The long divergence : how Islamic law held back the Middle East / Timur Kuran.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kuran, Timur.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic development--Religious aspects--Islam.

Economic development.

Islamic law--Economic aspects.

Islamic law.

Islam--Economic aspects.

Islam.

Middle East--Economic conditions.

Middle East.

Middle East--Economic policy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (422 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the year 1000, the economy of the Middle East was at least as advanced as that of Europe. But by 1800, the region had fallen dramatically behind--in living standards, technology, and economic institutions. In short, the Middle East had failed to modernize economically as the West surged ahead. What caused this long divergence? And why does the Middle East remain drastically underdeveloped compared to the West? In The Long Divergence, one of the world's leading experts on Islamic economic institutions and the economy of the Middle East provides a new answer to these long-debated questions. Timur Kuran argues that what slowed the economic development of the Middle East was not colonialism or geography, still less Muslim attitudes or some incompatibility between Islam and capitalism. Rather, starting around the tenth century, Islamic legal institutions, which had benefitted the Middle Eastern economy in the early centuries of Islam, began to act as a drag on development by slowing or blocking the emergence of central features of modern economic life--including private capital accumulation, corporations, large-scale production, and impersonal exchange. By the nineteenth century, modern economic institutions began to be transplanted to the Middle East, but its economy has not caught up. And there is no quick fix today. Low trust, rampant corruption, and weak civil societies--all characteristic of the region's economies today and all legacies of its economic history--will take generations to overcome. The Long Divergence opens up a frank and honest debate on a crucial issue that even some of the most ardent secularists in the Muslim world have hesitated to discuss.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Part I. Introduction

Part II. Organizational Stagnation

Part III. The Makings of Underdevelopment

Part IV. Conclusions

Notes

References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9786612821028

9781282821026

1282821024

9781400836017

1400836018

OCLC:

677980445