Contemporary Issues in the Middle East Series from Syracuse University Press

“A carefully researched, theoretically sophisticated contribution to an emerging body of scholarship on Islam and capitalism.” Daromir Rudnyckyj, author of Spiritual Economies: Islam, Globalization, and the Afterlife of Development.

Since coming to power in 2002, Turkey’s governing party, the AKP, has made poverty relief a central part of their political program. In addition to neoliberal reforms, AKP’s program has involved an emphasis on Islamic charity that is unprecedented in the history of the Turkish Republic. To understand the causes and consequences of this phenomenon, Zencirci introduces the concept of the Muslim Social, defined as a welfare regime that reimagined and reconfigured Islamic charitable practices to address the complex needs of a modern market society. 

In The Muslim Social, Zencirci explores the blending of religious values and neoliberal elements in dynamic, flexible, and unexpected ways. Although these governmental assemblages of Islamic neoliberalism produced new forms of generosity, distinctive notions of poverty, and novel ways of relating to others in society, Zencirci reveals how this welfare regime privileged managerial efficiency and emotional well-being at the expense of other objectives such as equality, development, or justice. The book provides a lens onto the everyday life of Islamic neoliberalism, while also mapping the kind of political concerns that animate poverty governance in our capitalist present.

Awards

Recipient of the 2025 Outstanding Book Award in Nonprofit and Voluntary Action Research from The Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA).

“The Muslim Social: Neoliberalism, Charity, and Poverty in Turkey by Gizem Zencirci is an outstanding ethnographic achievement and incisive contribution to the study of the intersections between neoliberalism, faith, and charity. The depth and quality of the research are excellent, and the book combines the topics in a way that is both original and illuminating. While grounded in the Turkish context, the analysis offers important broader lessons for understanding global dynamics of how (not) to respond to the challenges of poverty and humanitarian emergencies.”

Learn more about the award here.

Journal Reviews

Contemporary Sociology: Cihan Tuğal reviews The Muslim Social

New Perspectives on Turkey: Elifcan Çelebi reviews The Muslim Social

Turkish Studies: Görkem Altınörs reviews The Muslim Social

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations: Aziz Ardıç reviews The Muslim Social

Featured in:

In this episode of the New Books Network’s Middle Eastern Studies Podcast, I speak with Tugrul Mende about the neoliberal politics of Islamic social service provision in Turkey.

The Muslim Social was featured by Jadaliyya’s NEWTON (New Texts Out Now) page. You can read the interview here.