The Zaqât in Muslim society: an analysis of Islamic economic policy

1996 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josep-Antoni Ybarra

For the Muslim, the zaqât is an ethically compulsory payment of a religious character having material connotations. By means of the zaqât, a mechanism of individual and collective regulation is established that permits the promotion, consolidation and organization of the collective, Islam. It is a socializing precept that introduces the beginnings of the “welfare state”. However, it should also be pointed out that it instils in the Muslim ultraconservative behaviour and a disinclination to participate in the life of society; the practice of the zaqât de-incites individual demands, maintaining a status quo in relation to the social order and the logic of a class-conscious society.

1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-443
Author(s):  
Iver Hornemann Møler

ABSTRACTThe Danish Early Retirement Pension Scheme (ERPS) introduced in 1979 was intended to contribute to the reproduction of the social order and to the legitimation of the welfare state. The first objective was not achieved. Nevertheless ERPS reduced total unemployment by about 20% and thereby contributed to the positive image of the welfare state.Survey data show that the poorer the working conditions the stronger the probability that the eligible take early retirement. High rates of unemployment in industries with physically and psychologically onerous work increase the probability of early retirement. Taken together with employers' wishes for as large as possible a labour reserve and their ambivalent attitude to the total withdrawal of marginal workers, these findings render the debate about voluntary versus compulsory withdrawal from the labour market at best insignificant and at worse misleading.At the same time, ERPS has brought some unintended but quite considerable improvements to the lives of many recipients. These include better self-assessed health, increased contacts with family and friends and new leisure activities. Recently, however, there is evidence of an increase in economic deprivation among recipients, and early retirement pension levels have not kept pace with rises in industrial earnings or the cost of living.


2001 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik H. Enste

Abstract The growing shadow economy in Germany is a challenge to the welfare state and economic policy. The burden of taxation and social security contributions combined with rising state regulatory activities are the main causes for the increase in the shadow economy. The consequences are ambivalent, since illicit work can increase welfare and boost institutional change but can also lead to a crisis of the welfare state. A substantial reform of the social security system and the tax system can reduce the incentives to use the `exit option’. In addition, the use of the `voiceoption’ must become more attractive.


2008 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 29-35
Author(s):  
Theodor Strohm

Abstract This article shows clearly the experiences of the author concerning the social restart of Germany after 1945. The ZEE was and is a place for reflection and reorientation. Personal encounters with personalities of the »first hour« constitute the opening. This is followed by five central situations which were witnessed and devised by the author. They had a direct effect on the ZEE. 1. The participation in the senior staff of Willy Brandt had an effect on the contemplation of an »ethos of inner reforms«. 2. The reform process in South Africa with its »peaceful revolution« brought the author there, having intense working relations to the leaders of the »black majority«. These experiences found their way into the ZEE. 3. As chairman of the chamber for social order of the EKD (Evangelical Church in Germany) the author worked nearly 20 years intensively on memoranda concerning the reorientation of the welfare state in many dimensions. The ZEE was a central place of scientific debate. 4. and 5. As head of the Diakoniewissenschaftliches Institut (I. for Christian social work) of the University of Heidelberg basic questions of deaconry theologically and at the same time world wide aspects were at the centre of interest also at the ZEE


2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 407-425
Author(s):  
Alpar Losonc

Recently Claus Offe has put the question that concerns the fate of the European model of social capitalism: Can the model of social capitalism survive the European integration in the context of certain contemporary tendencies? Offe has presupposed that the mentioned model is challenged by the processes of globalization and the integration of the post socialist countries into the European Union. The working hypothesis of the article is that there is an opportunity to provide a coherent answer to this question. The article consists of two parts. In the first part the author starts with the Polanyi's socio-economic theory and emphasizes the importance of this approach for the analyzing of the tendencies of capitalism in Western Europe and in the post socialist countries. The author argues that with the Polanyi's theory we are able to explicate the forms of the embedded liberalism in Western Europe after 1945 and the orientation of non-embedded neo-liberalism and the functioning of the workfare state after the crisis of the Keynesian welfare state. Despite the tendencies of the globalization projected by neo-liberalism, the central element of the social capitalism namely, the welfare state, remains with the dimensions of the continuity. In the next part the author points out that there is an asymmetrical structure between the Western-Europe and non-Western part of Europe concerning the socialization of capitalism. The neoliberalisation in accordance with the model of the transfer of ideal-type of capitalism is more strongly implemented in the countries of transition. In addition, the mentioned theoretical approach provides opportunities to explain the failures of implementing of neo-liberalism in the post socialist countries. On the basis of the endorsing of the socio-economic aspects we can address the issue pointed out by Offe.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 227
Author(s):  
Azwar Azwar Azwar ◽  
Emeraldy Chatra ◽  
Zuldesni Zuldesni

Poverty is one of the social problems that the government can never completely solve. As a result, other, more significant social issues arise and cause social vulnerability, such as conflict and crime. As a province that is experiencing rapid growth in the last ten years, the West Sumatra find difficulty to overcome the number of poor people in several districts and cities.  The research outcomes are the models and forms of social policy made by West Sumatra regencies and cities governments in improving the welfare of poor communities. It is also covering the constraints or obstacles to the implementation of social policy and the selection of welfare state models for the poor in some districts and municipalities of West Sumatra. This research is conducted qualitatively with a sociological approach that uses social perspective on searching and explaining social facts that happened to needy groups. Based on research conducted that the social policy model adopted by the government in responding to social problems in the districts and cities of West Sumatra reflects the welfare state model given to the poor. There is a strong relationship between the welfare state model and the form of social policy made by the government.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nagihan Ozkanca Andic ◽  
Ekrem Karayilmazlar

The Public Expenditure/GDP ratio is one of the most significant metrics that measure the state's share of the economy. It can be said that there is an interventionist state type in countries where this rate is high, or it can be argued that the share of the public sector in the economy is low in countries where this rate is low. It is also possible to argue that the countries' economic, sociological, and political factors play an essential role in determining this ratio. Regulations, which are the most important tools of the welfare state, may arise through economic controls as well as through social policies. This study aims to find an answer to the question of whether this situation is possible for a developing country such as Turkey while Nordic countries, which determine a system different from other welfare models, succeed in raising social welfare without giving up the principles such as equality and justice that they have despite the globalization effect. The data obtained by various methods were subjected to comparison using the Data Envelopment Analysis method in order to achieve this purpose. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0777/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>


2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Richez-Battesti

This article seeks to analyze the social impacts of the Economic and Monetary Union and to reflect on the new modalities for producing social norms within this new context. First, after pointing out limits to the nominal convergence that the treaty stipulates for the interim phase, we mil present the new forms of adjustment pursuant to the EMU and their impacts on the welfare state. We will then turn to the responses of some economists to the introduction of a single currency and coordination of budgetary policies, including fiscal federalism. We will try to show the desirability of a European welfare state that would introduce some coherence between the different levels (local, national, Europe-wide) and forms (legislative and union-management) of social regulation ; in essence, a reworking of the idea of social subsidiarity.


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