The Uneven Neoliberalization of Good Works: Islamic Charitable Fields and Their Impact on Diffusion

Abstract

Why is neoliberalization experienced unevenly throughout the Islamic world? This article explores Islam-inspired Egyptian and Turkish organizations’ competing orientations to poverty relief. The study is based on interviews, direct observation, and comparative historical analysis. While there was a contested balance between neoliberal and communitarian orientations to charitable giving in Egypt, in Turkey neoliberal approaches marginalized communitarian ones. These differences can be traced back to a contrast in the combination of two factors: the religious movements and the links between benevolent organizations and the state. The relatively more unified Islamic field, which was thoroughly merged with the market-friendly state in Turkey, fostered the neoliberalization of charity. The fragmented Egyptian Islamic field, coupled with an unevenly cooperative (even if still market-friendly) state, led to the persistence of an embattled communitarianism. A field-based analysis allows us to extend the insights of the uneven diffusion literature to micro terrain.