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This paper will analyze the effects of imposing a very diverse Western business culture on the religious culture of Iraq. In an attempt to figure out where the Iraqi business culture is evolving, we must first dissect the fundamentals of the culture of the past, and the ingrained cultural beliefs of the inhabitants of the present. Once we understand the past, we can then evaluate a comparable market in an attempt to predict and make suggestions as to its future., INTRODUCTION The evidence is overwhelming that culture influences managerial decision making on any number of levels or dimensions (Hofstede, 1980). The importance of culture's implications for managers has led to [...]

Byline: Niels Spierings (1,2), Jeroen Smits (2), Mieke Verloo (1) Keywords: Democracy; Islam; Women's labor market participation; Modernization Abstract: Although the Muslim world is sometimes depicted as a homogeneous civilization lacking democracy and gender equality, Muslim countries show tremendous economic, political and cultural variation. In this paper, this variation is used to gain insight into the determinants of women's labor market participation (LMP) in the Muslim world. We use data on 45 Muslim countries and apply SEM models to determine effects of modernization, democracy, cultural background, and state Islamization on women's participation in the formal economy (absolute LMP) and on the share of women in the labor force (relative LMP). Women's absolute LMP is higher in Muslim countries with higher levels of economic development and in the oil-exporting countries. For women's relative LMP, practical democracy (the degree to which people actively participate in the system) takes in a key position. It has a strong positive effect on women's relative LMP and mediates the effects of economic development (positive), formal democratic structures (positive) and state Islamization (negative) on women's relative LMP. Results indicate that in these countries modernization may lead to empowerment of women by increasing their absolute LMP, but that for attaining gender equality the political opportunity structures is most important. Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Political Science, Institute of Management Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9108, 6500 HK, Nijmegen, The Netherlands (2) Department of Economics, Institute of Management Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Article History: Registration Date: 29/05/2008 Received Date: 07/02/2008 Accepted Date: 27/05/2008 Online Date: 27/08/2008

This article deals with the role of Islam in the formation and evolution of a Muslim scout movement in Lebanon under the French Mandate. Scouting was imported into the Middle East from Europe just before World War I and was quickly appropriated by Arab societies. In the 1930s it gained significance not only as a social phenomenon but also as a forum for political expression. The Mandate administration initially sought to use scouting to expand France's cultural and political foothold in the region. Quickly, however, Lebanese leaders imbued scouting with their own distinctive ethos, which frequently opposed French interests. This process is especially interesting owing to the cross-pollination of ideological and cultural forces that nourished the burgeoning scout associations, including not only Islam and French scout methods but also Arab and Lebanese nationalism, fascism, and Anglo-Saxon political and cultural objectives in the Middle East. The discussion here addresses how Islam intertwined with these diverse influences and how this ideological conglomeration affected and reflected Franco-Muslim relations in Lebanon. Cet article traite du role que joua l'Islam dans la formation et l'evolution du scoutisme musulman au Liban a l'epoque du mandat francais. Institution europeenne, le scoutisme s'implanta au Moyen-Orient a l'aube de la Premiere Guerre mondiale et s'integra rapidement dans la societe arabe. Pendant les annees 1930, ce phenomene acquiert de l'importance non seulement dans le domaine social, mais egalement comme moyen d'action politique. L'autorite mandataire espera exploiter le scoutime pour renforcer sa presence politique et culturelle dans la region. Or, des le depart, les dirigeants musulmans libanais s'emparerent du mouvement et l'impregnerent d'un esprit anticolonial et anti-francais. Ce processus s'avera plus interessant a etudier car les associations scoutes au Liban furent influencees par divers mouvements ideologiques et politiques, non seulement par l'Islam et la methodologie du scoutisme francais, mais aussi par les nationalismes arabe et libanais, le fascisme et les ambitions anglo-saxonnes en pays arabes. L'auteur se penche ici sur la maniere dont l'Islam se mela a ces tendances multiples, et se demande comment ce melange ideologique influa sur les relations franco-musulmanes au Liban.

The threat of Muslim fundamentalism is being used by the White House to legitimize wars abroad and the present war on terror is an attempt by the U.S. military to look for new markets and opportunities for big business under the guise of bringing democracy and western civilized values to backward Islamic nations. The only way to combat this is for the people to express their solidarity, come out on the streets and protest so as to support each other in their individual struggles.

The harem has not been properly historicized. It has suffered from the timelessness of the Orient that Edward Said discussed in Orientalism, that is the Orient as a zone of [...]

Accounting for accounting demands renewed attention to the knowledge practices of the accounting profession and anthropological analysis. Using data and theory from Islamic accountancy in Indonesia and the global network of Islamic financial engineers, this article challenges work on accounting's rhetorical functions by attending to the inherent reflexivity of accounting practice and the practice of accounting for accounting. Such a move is necessary because critical accounting scholarship mirrors, and has been taken up by, Islamic accountancy debates around the form of accounting knowledge. The article explores the work that accounting literature shoulders in carving up putatively stable domains of the technical and rhetorical, and makes a case for a reappreciation of the techniques for creating anthropological knowledge in the light of new cultures of accounting. Rendre compte de la comptabilite exige que l'on accorde une attention renouvelee aux pratiques du savoir de la profession comptable et de l'analyse anthropologique. En me servant de donnees et de theories tirees de la comptabilite islamique en Indonesie et du reseau global d'ingenieurs financiers islamiques, cet article remet en cause le travail fait sur les fonctions rhetoriques de la comptabilite en portant l'attention sur la reflexivite inherente tant a la pratique comptable qu'a la pratique comptable a l'egard de la comptabilite. Une telle demarche est necessaire car les etudes critiques sur la comptabilite ont ete relevees par les debats islamiques sur la forme des savoirs comptables, autant qu'elles en sont le reflet. Cet article examine le travail que la litterature comptable endorse en decoupant des domaines putativement stables du technique et du rhetorique, et il presente des arguments en faveur d'une reevaluation des techniques utilisees pour creer le savoir anthropologique a la lumiere des nouvell es cultures comptables., Accounting and the form of anthropological knowledge Scholars across the disciplines seem to agree that it is time for a new accounting of accounting. For sociologists Carruthers and Espeland (1991), [...]

This article examines journalistic ethics in the Middle East since the advent of global media, comparing similar ethic codes in Europe and the Islamic world in order to analyze the divide between Western and Oriental philosphies on journalism and its role in political communications. The author finds that ethical norms such as truth and objectivity and protection of the private sphere are actually more pronounced in Islamic countries than in the West; differences occur in the status of freedom of expression, but in general, a growing trend towards universalism in journalistic ethics is found.

This article examines the polemics of the valuation of Islamist social movements, and the route of Islamic cultures toward modernity. The author focuses on the Turkish Islamist party Refah's transformation of public space since winning the Greater Istanbul Municipality in 1994, and their construction of Islamist tea gardens and restaurants.

This article examines the ideals, principles, and operational mechanisms of democracy from Western and Islamic perspectives. Western powers, including the United States, indiscriminately promote Western secular democracy, but Islamic countries require a democratic framework that is developed within the context of their culture and faith.

Low socioeconomic status of women is often linked to their relegation to familial roles. This tendency is particularly evident, in, but certainly not limited to Islamic societies. A combination of […]

The Islamic world can effect a change in their human rights record through economic and cultural reforms and proper interpretation of the Shari'ah. Muslim scholars must take advantage of the receptivity of Islam to new ideas and press for reforms within their community in the treatment of non-Muslims and women. However, Islamic countries should achieve economic prosperity to prevent fundamentalism and the politicization of Islam. A dialogue on universal human rights based on the cultural and socioeconomic aspects of all countries is necessary to arrive at a consensus on the issue of human rights.

Islamic and social movements have failed to give women decision-making powers in Islamic countries. Muslim societies of Asia and Africa see women as a means to legitimize political regimes, although feminism has become the key issue in the dominant public debate. Although new roles are being created, the excesses of social revolution have subjected the emancipation of women to male leadership. A collection of essays in this issue portrays the phenomenon in different countries.

Certain problems are raised in the study of state formation in the parts of the Muslim world and elsewhere as distinctly Khaldunian problems that can be approached by applying a framework that integrates Ibn Khaldun's theory of state formation with modern concepts in sociology. Khaldunian's sociology is presented as an exemplar for sociology of the South by discussing selective applications of his theory to regions and periods outside of his own.

A research note explores aspects of the demand for terrorism and who supports terrorism, using data from Pew Research Center from 7849 adult respondents, from 14 Muslim countries. It is shown that females, and younger persons, and those who believe that Islam is under threat are more likely to support terrorism, whereas very poor respondents and those who believe that religious leaders should play a larger role in politics are less likely to support terrorism than others.

The situation of human development in the Muslim world has been found to be poor when compared to that of non-Muslim world. The widespread human under-development across the Muslim world is an important cause of global insecurity and instability.

AfghanistanEs discussion on future policy related to narcotics is highlighted. The key issues would be creation of a new, permanent state to replace the transitional Islamic state of Afghanistan and to tackle the country's continuing role as a global supplier of opiates.

The vengeful abuse of women by husbands and other sexual partners and by male kin and male in-laws that persists worldwide is discussed. The historical roots of heat-of-passion crimes and honor killings in Islam per se are described by Mathew Goldstein.

When I planned my two weeks trip to Tunisia earlier this month, I envisioned peaceful, eventless visits to the old palaces, domed mosques and minarets, the country's medinas (old cities [...]

A survey on the views of citizens in Islamic countries on the role of women in government, is discussed. It is revealed that majority of people in Islamic nations welcome giving leadership role for women in government.

The day Saddam's statue fell in Baghdad I was with some Saudi journalists at their office in Jeddah. We were glued to the television. 'Can you believe that,' shouted one [...]