Geography Directions: Islamic Finance

From our Geography Directions site reviewing Wiley-Blackwell’s Geography Compass review journal covering the entire discipline.  Keep up with cutting edge academic geography.  These articles may be useful for introducing students to the discipline or may be appropriate for upper division Geography classes.

Public confidence in the banking sector has been significantly shaken over recent years.  Given the turmoil caused by the global financial crisis, the depression and the public bail-outs of banks like RBS and Northern Rock; the raising levels of doubt and mistrust are hardly surprising.  Furthermore, such doubts show little sign of abating this week, as seven EU banks fail newly imposed ‘stress tests‘ by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS).  As a result increasing numbers are looking for an alternative form of banking in which to invest and Islamic finance could just fit the bill.

Unlike the traditional banking sector, Islamic banking is based upon a strict set of principles; the central of which is that “money itself has no intrinsic value. [Also] as a matter of faith, a Muslim cannot lend money to, or receive money from someone and expect to benefit – interest (known as riba) is not allowed. To make money from money is forbidden – wealth can only be generated through legitimate trade and investment in assets. Money must be used in a productive way” (IBB).  As a result of this central principle Islamic finance is considered more stable (as the temptation to risk in search of profit is reduced) and more ethically appealing to many private savers and investors dismayed by increased profits and bankers bonuses.  Moreover, Pollard (2010) suggests that many organisations like the IBB, are attempting to market themselves as ‘ethical banks’ in areas such as the EU and USA which could otherwise be sceptical of the Islamic name.

In a recent issue of Area geographers Bassens, Derudder and Witlox detail the global spread of the Islamic finance model in recent years, charting how Islamic financial services have moved out of their historical base in the cities of the Middle East and become “anchored in the more conventional world cities” (2010, 44) of London and Paris, challenging our pre-existing geographical imaginations of the global financial sector.

These changes should be of great interest of all Human Geographers, as they offer a potentially fruitful intersection between social and cultural, political and economic geographical research; as we explore how the actions and values of the individual impact upon these globalised networks.

By Alexander Leo Phillips

To view the original article please visit the Geography Directions Blog.

Concept Caching: Dubai, UAE

From our Concept Caching image cache that hopes to promote student spatial awareness by relating specific features on the Earth’s surface with their visual character and GPS coordinates. Through the site photographs and GPS coordinates demonstrate core concepts in geography.  Images are “cached” for viewing by core concept and by region.  Images are certainly useful for introducing visual content to students in all Geography classes.

This image submitted by Harm de Blij provides a local backdrop for understanding the development of global economic and financial networks in the Middle East region.  Dubai emerged as a world center for business along with the region’s boom in oil.  Today, an entire sector of global finance is governed by Islamic institutions, centered in places like Dubai, as mentioned in the post Geography Directions: Islamic Finance.

World Cup 2010: Globalization, Geopolitics and Sport

During the last World Cup in 2006, the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization (YCSG) highlighted the deeper symbolism that cultural activities, like sports – namely the sport most illustrative of globalization, football – can offer an understanding of geopolitics.  Speaking particularly in the context of political conflicts, the YCSG contends that, “Rituals of the match, such as waving flags or singing anthems, can inject new passion into national rivalries or also diffuse hostility.”  Viewing sport in this way, the matches of the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa have been symbolically framed in many geopolitically and historically significant ways.  The expectations and representations of national and regional rhetoric bring the sport far beyond the matches and scores.

Where the tone of the 2006 YCSG essay was hopeful for the role of football in diffusing hostility, Foreign Policy magazine offers a disheartening look at the symbolic hopes that football might offer to the Middle East region, specifically.  The article recounts the 2010 World Cup qualifying match between Egypt and Algeria, which was accompanied by attacks and rioting, arguing that it provided, “an uncanny analysis of the region.”  Noting the success of soccer as an “act of cultural imperialism,” the author contends that it is a perfect frame from which to view the region, through its inherent tension between uniting and dividing peoples.  The remainder of the article discusses each of the national teams, their quests to qualify, and their eventual undoing.  Some of the most politically telling include:  the plight of Palestine as, “a national team without a nation”; the divisions of Lebanon’s domestic teams controlled by various sectarian groups and the resulting hopelessness of uniting a national team; and the donning of green wristbands by the Iranian team in their match against South Korea, which were then conspicuously missing during the second half.

Quite the reverse of the divisions in the Middle East region, 2010 World Cup football sparked the flame of pan-African solidarity when Ghana was the only African nation to advance into the quarterfinals.  The Atlantic magazine cites some interesting geopolitical and historical circumstances that may have led to the trans-national camaraderie of the Sub-Saharan African region.  The author briefly describes the nationalism that thrived in the 1960s and 1970s, but then goes on to underscore the let downs of national governments since.  Ultimately, it may have been the historical beyond-borders identities, like ethnicity, language, or religion, some of which were divided in 1885 but have proved lasting in the minds of many Africans.  The author also discusses the essentialist ‘lumping’ of Sub-Saharan Africa into a single category, perhaps an interesting counterpoint to the tenets of regional geography.  Further, the article concludes with a look at the globalized marketing campaign, “brand Africa,” which may also be leading the notions of unity through “Africa United” jerseys and products featuring paint colors that were custom-made from soil samples of four different African countries.

A final perspective looks at the event, through a historical lens, using the games to analyze the distinct evolving relationship between two nations over time.  The South African Mail & Guardian Online views the 2010 World Cup as, “The symbol of a new postcolonial world order.”  The author argues that the event offers a “snapshot” of the current world system along with a “retrospective view” for the globalization currents shaping it.  Taking a closer look at the match between Portugal and Brazil, the author highlights the shift in the balance of power between these two nations in a postcolonial world.  The rising power of Brazil is set politically, economically, and diplomatically against its former colonial master, Portugal.  The article offers an interesting take on the historical metamorphism of the world political and economic system.

Discussion Questions:

1)  What are some other examples of cultural activities or products that can serve to unite or divide people?  Explain your example.

2)  How would you explain the relationship between football and nationalism/regionalism?

3)  Following a prior introduction of both the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa regions – Compare the two regions.  What explanations can you offer for understanding the football experiences of the two regions as described by the articles in Foreign Policy and The Atlantic magazines?

4)  How does globalization inform the World Cup or football in general?  Think of historical, economic, cultural, political connections, among others.

Sarah Goggin

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