Social Welfare and Religion in the Middle East: A Lebanese Perspective

Social welfare and religion in the Middle East......Page 1
Contents......Page 4
List of tables and figures......Page 6
Acknowledgements......Page 7
List of Arabic words with English translations......Page 8
List of abbreviations......Page 9
Map of the Middle East......Page 10
1. Introduction: religion and social policy – an “old–new” partnership......Page 12
An “old–new” partnership: religion in social policy scholarship......Page 15
Beyond the Rentier state: religion and social policy in the Middle East......Page 19
Aims and scope of the book......Page 24
Definition of terms......Page 26
Organisation of the book......Page 29
A note about the research reported in the book......Page 32
Introduction......Page 36
Human well-being and social ethics in the five major world faiths......Page 39
Contextualising religion in social policy theory and practice......Page 62
A working definition of religious welfare......Page 75
Conclusion: the value of religion to social policy......Page 76
Introduction......Page 80
Lebanon’s political economy – in and out of war......Page 81
Historical overview of social policy in Lebanon......Page 83
Recognising the problem of poverty: social inequality and war......Page 86
Conclusion: religious welfare in Lebanon and beyond......Page 92
Introduction......Page 96
Conceiving social welfare: from human solidarity to identity politics......Page 98
The nature of welfare: social service and religious faith......Page 110
Identities, policy contexts and objectives......Page 131
Social welfare: instrumental or intrinsic value?......Page 144
Conclusion: social service as religious faith and instrumental welfare......Page 145
Introduction......Page 150
Definitions and key policy dilemmas......Page 152
Mechanics and dynamics of service delivery, consumption and evaluation......Page 176
Social welfare as measure of outcomes......Page 186
Treating causes or symptoms of poverty......Page 198
Conclusion: needs reinterpretation and policy focus......Page 203
Introduction......Page 206
Defining the ‘social’: factoring in the sacred......Page 208
Social cohesion: morality and power......Page 211
Social exclusion: what relevance?......Page 223
Social cohesion and social reproduction: two models......Page 225
Conclusion: the place of social cohesion in policy......Page 229
Introduction: theoretical implications of the Lebanese case......Page 234
The Lebanese case: contradictions and hybridism......Page 236
Theoretical implications for the study of social policy in the Middle East......Page 254
Conclusion: basic needs and moral order – primacy of the human being over societal structures......Page 259
Introduction......Page 262
Defining some parameters for the relationship between religion and social policy......Page 264
Overview of current analyses of social policy in the Middle East......Page 267
Some policy implications for Lebanon......Page 268
The Middle East: a future for religious welfare?......Page 269
Conclusion......Page 271
Conclusion......Page 272
Bibliography......Page 280
Appendix A: Lebanon country profile......Page 310
Appendix B: Social protection institutions and coverage......Page 312
Index......Page 314