A theory of capitalist co-optation of radical alternatives: The case of Islamic banking industry

Abstract

In this article, we use the critical theory literature to describe the processes of co-optation by which capitalism engages with its radical alternatives in order to subvert their emancipatory potential. We chose the global Islamic banking industry as our empirical context, which represents bold efforts to build a radical alternative embedded in Islamic moral precepts. However, we observed that the performative intent of capitalist discourse, reflected in a strong preoccupation with effectiveness and efficiency, has come to dominate all economic claims in the Islamic banking industry. The oppositional ideas that were intended to disturb the economic status quo now reproduce it along with its privileges, despite the vaulted rhetoric about establishing a genuine alternative. The article ends by mapping out some implications of re-introducing co-optation in the critical theory literature.

‘I need you inside of me’: Gendered organizing of feminist pornography

“…Hence, while working for profit, Erotic Stories combines commercial interest with a social agenda, similar to organizations that showcase a hybridization between ethical and commercial goals (e.g., green capitalism, for-profit cooperatives, etc.). While acknowledging the risk that commercial interests might co-opt or appropriate the feminist logic (as also seen in discussions of alternative economic practices, see for example Ul-Haq et al, 2022), we argue that Erotic Stories provides a fruitful case for studying challenges that feminist pornography faces in countering the organizing of mainstream pornography.…”

“Sometimes it looks fake”: Hiyal and contrivances as tools for exploring aspirations for radical social change

“…The discussion in Malaysia also has implications for the decades-long, global debate about whether Islamic banking and finance is distinctive from, and more religiously ethical than, conventional finance (Maurer, 2005(Maurer, , 2008Rudnyckyj, 2017Rudnyckyj, , 2018Ul-Haq et al, 2020;Warde, 2010). From the perspective of proponents and critics alike, Islamic banking and finance can "sometimes look fake."…”

“…The discussion in Malaysia also has implications for the decades‐long, global debate about whether Islamic banking and finance is distinctive from, and more religiously ethical than, conventional finance (Maurer, 2005, 2008; Rudnyckyj, 2017, 2018; Ul‐Haq et al, 2020; Warde, 2010). From the perspective of proponents and critics alike, Islamic banking and finance can “sometimes look fake.” Originating in the 2010s, an increasing number of scholars, teachers, and practitioners working in Malaysia and speaking to global audiences have argued that Islamic banking is neither authentic nor fake but rather “ hiyal ‐based.” In this view, Islamic finance and banking is a response to the untenable situation of living in a financialized political economy based on riba that stretches from the global financial architecture down to a family's home financing.…”

Achieving transformational change through the consilience of behavioral science and radical alternatives

“…Degrowth has been critiqued as proposing a naive voluntary path to transformation (Nirmal and Rocheleau 2019). Research on understanding the strategies for transformation are particularly needed, especially given that many alternatives arose in relation to capitalism, which has a historical propensity to appropriate alternatives as a way of reproducing accumulation (Alonso González and Vázquez 2015;Ul-Haq et al 2022).…”