Social Justice from the Perspective of Islamic Economy

The fourth Islamic Economics Workshop will be held by the Association for Science, Culture and Education (ILKE); the Scientific Studies Association (ILEM) and the Turkish Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics Association (IGIAD) in Istanbul from April 2-3, 2016. The topic of the workshop will be on “Social Justice from the Perspective of Islamic Economy.” In the evaluation of the applications for the workshop, which will be hosted by the Islamic Economics and Finance Department, Istanbul University, papers that discuss social justice and relative subjects from the perspective of Islamic Economics will be given priority.

The fourth Islamic Economics Workshop aims at holding discussions that approach issues closely related to social justice from the perspective of Islamic economics. The objective is to gather academicians from various parts of the world conducting studies in this area to examine the causes of the current social and economic injustice in an in-depth and realistic manner. Also they are gathered to conduct a collective study on how to form a theoretical basis for a social justice understanding based on Islamic principles for which alternative mechanisms are to be included, in addition to the kind of concrete solutions that are to be developed within this understanding. It is expected within this framework to receive discussion papers focused on the following questions or similar questions of your own choosing:

• Main causes and effects of today’s social injustices.
• Measures taken in order to provide the social justice in a global or local scale and their effect/successes ratios.
• Social justice discussion and prominent topics.
• The contribution of Islamic economics perspective to social justice discussions.
• How is the issue of social justice understood and practiced in Muslim societies today?
• The effects and results of the economic policies practiced in today’s Muslim societies regarding social injustice.
• How can social justice today be handled in an Islamic perspective?
• Principles and mechanisms to provide social justice within the framework of Islamic economics.
• Measures to remove class differences and income injustice within an economic order based on Islamic principles.
• What kind of a social justice is constituted by issues like the institution of Zakah, the prohibition of usury, the promotion of sadaqaat and infaaq, and the prohibition of luxury and waste, etc.?
• How can the principal and institutional characteristics of Islamic economics continue its existence within the current economic system?
• How should the distribution and redistribution dynamics be structured for a fair economic life?
• What are the sources, causes and effects of poverty in today’s Muslim countries?
• How can struggle against poverty be handled from an Islamic perspective?
• What should be the parameters determining the taxation, social justice and minimum wage policies in the context of Islamic economics?
• What are the repercussions of development-based economic policies applied in Muslim societies in regards to social justice?
• How should the distribution of the labor market be conducted as a social policy element?
• What kind of solutions can be offered to the current debt crisis of households and governments from the perspective of Islamic economics?

Paper summaries studying these questions or similar ones can be sent to www.islamiceconomy.org until October 31, 2015. The due date of the full texts of the summaries that receive acceptance will be January 31, 2016. The final acceptance for participation in the workshop will be determined after the examination of the full texts. Travel and accommodation expenses of those whose participation are approved will be met by the organization.

The paper summaries should be between 250-400 words. The papers are to include the full name of the author, the institution he or she works in, a correspondence address, phone number and e-mail address. The full texts of the summaries should not have been previously published. As in the case of former workshops, the papers to be presented in this workshop will also be published thereafter.