Islamic Social Finance ― Entrepreneurship, Cooperation and the Sharing Economy

This book looks at Islamic finance as a paramount example of this capitalism under change, where the balance between economic efficiency and moral legitimacy is contributing to the transformation of the market from an exchange- to a person-oriented development institution.

To this end, the chapters analyse the social dimension of entrepreneurship from an Islamic perspective, highlighting the extent to which the rationales of distribution and cooperation that nurture Islamic economics affect the conceptualization of the market from an ethical stance. Moving from a theoretical to an operative approach, the contributing authors investigate the instruments that Islamic finance offers for social impact investments and the sharing economy, connecting current trends in the financial market to shari‘ah-compliant strategies for local and community development.

By contextualizing Islamic finance within the transformative nature of contemporary capitalism, the book provides an illuminating reference for researchers, practitioners and policy-makers dealing with the challenges of a global market where not only is diversity being perceived as a value to be fostered, but also as an important opportunity for a more inclusive economy for everybody.

Dr. Valentino Cattelan specializes in Islamic law, economics and finance, and his research activity covers aspects of legal pluralism, property rights theory, history of capitalism, law of Islamic finance, comparative law and social finance.