Economic Governance Beyond State and Market: Islamic Capital Markets in Southeast Asia

Abstract

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Who Governs and How? Non-State Actors and Transnational Governance in Southeast Asia

“…The five papers in this Special Issue address these questions in five diverse strategic sectors or issue areas salient to the Southeast Asian political economy-(i) the palm oil industry, a strategic economic sector in Indonesia and Malaysia, targeted as a key pathway to development in other Southeast Asian countries, but which is implicated in environmental destruction with regional and global implications (Nesadurai 2018); (ii) the mining sector, which is a crucial resource earner in this region but reputed to be so mired in corrupt practices that domestic publics are not gaining from state policies of attracting investments into extractive sectors (Bünte 2018); (iii) maritime safety and security, which has substantial economic as well as political implications given the critical importance of safe sea lanes for the movement of goods and people in the waterways in and around Southeast Asia (Ba 2018);(iv) labour migration, a key source of economic growth and income in both labour-receiving and labour-sending countries but a sector characterised by considerable abuse of migrant workers, especially female domestic workers (Elias 2018); and (v) Islamic finance, a fast growing global industry that intersects economics/finance and cultural/identity politics, has the potential to embed important social justice principles into financial governance but has become caught up with national preoccupations with global competitiveness (Rethel 2018).…”

“…The traditionally non-binding fatwas, or religious legal opinions, issued by such religious experts through which particular financial practices are deemed permissible or forbidden were later made mandatory by the state, which can help to consolidate this alternative financial regime and possibly its transnational spread (Rethel 2018).…”

Corporate Islam, Global Capitalism and the Performance of Economic Moralities

“…Thus, for example Bill Maurer (2006) suggests that other markers, such as standardised loan documentation in the case of Islamic mortgage finance, bestow credibility on Islamic products. It can also involve a rescaling of authority as in the case of the certification of Islamic financial products by sharia scholars, variably located vis-à-vis firms' organizational structures, domestic state apparatus and international governance arrangements (Rethel 2018b). A common 14 question that arises within this literature is how this standardisation of the Islamic economy delineates the scope of deliberation and moral and economic reasoning.…”

Who Governs and How? Non-State Actors and Transnational Governance in Southeast Asia

“…Religious experts contracted by state actors have been crucial to the development of standards, rules and practices in the Islamic finance industry in Malaysia and Indonesia, a regime to which they also lend their moral authority. The traditionally non-binding fatwas, or religious legal opinions, issued by such religious experts through which particular financial practices are deemed permissible or forbidden were later made mandatory by the state, which can help to consolidate this alternative financial regime and possibly its transnational spread (Rethel 2018).…”

“…These are also key questions in the field of global governance, which has gone much further in recognising the diverse modes of governance through which order and even justice might be achieved. The five articles in this special issue address these questions in five diverse strategic sectors or issue areas salient to the Southeast Asian political economy: (i) the palm oil industry, a strategic economic sector in Indonesia and Malaysia, targeted as a key pathway to development in other Southeast Asian countries, but which is implicated in environmental destruction with regional and global implications (Nesadurai 2018); (ii) the mining sector, which is a crucial resource earner in this region but reputed to be so mired in corrupt practices that domestic publics are not gaining from state policies of attracting investments into extractive sectors (Bünte 2018); (iii) maritime safety and security, which has substantial economic as well as political implications given the critical importance of safe sea lanes for the movement of goods and people in the waterways in and around Southeast Asia (Ba 2018); (iv) labour migration, a key source of economic growth and income in both labour-receiving and labour-sending countries but a sector characterised by considerable abuse of migrant workers, especially female domestic workers (Elias 2018); and (v) Islamic finance, a fast growing global industry that intersects economics/finance and cultural/identity politics, has the potential to embed important social justice principles into financial governance but has become caught up with national preoccupations with global competitiveness (Rethel 2018).…”