Book contents
- Black Markets and Militants
- Black Markets and Militants
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Preface
- I The Framework
- II The Institutional Context in an Era of Abundance
- 1 “The House the Boom Built”: The Informal Economy and Islamist Politics in Egypt
- 2 Investing in Islamism: Labor Remittances, Islamic Banking, and the Rise of Political Islam in Sudan
- 3 Islamic versus Clan Networks: Labor Remittances, Hawwala Banking, and the Predatory State in Somalia
- III Globalization and Institutional Change in an Era of Scarcity
- Book part
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
1 - “The House the Boom Built”: The Informal Economy and Islamist Politics in Egypt
from II - The Institutional Context in an Era of Abundance
- Black Markets and Militants
- Black Markets and Militants
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Preface
- I The Framework
- II The Institutional Context in an Era of Abundance
- 1 “The House the Boom Built”: The Informal Economy and Islamist Politics in Egypt
- 2 Investing in Islamism: Labor Remittances, Islamic Banking, and the Rise of Political Islam in Sudan
- 3 Islamic versus Clan Networks: Labor Remittances, Hawwala Banking, and the Predatory State in Somalia
- III Globalization and Institutional Change in an Era of Scarcity
- Book part
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In Egypt migrant remittances and the flow of petrodollars in the era of the oil boom provided capitalization of Islamic banks and a host of Islamic investment companies that operated outside the system of state regulation. Such bankers drew on the rapidly growing wealth of those businessmen with long-standing connections in the Gulf, including, most importantly, members and sympathizers with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). This boom in labor export and remittance flows also helped shape Egyptian national economic functions, out-migration and the burgeoning informal economy afforded the Egyptian state enough “relative autonomy” to allow it to expand the private sector and begin to decentralize the country’s economic system. It enabled the Egyptian state to relax foreign exchange regulations to stimulate a foreign capital influx. However, the unintended consequences of these policies were opening the door for Islamic financial institutions, which helped finance and popularize the middle class-based Islamic movement.
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- Black Markets and MilitantsInformal Networks in the Middle East and Africa, pp. 23 - 91Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021