Islamic marketing at the Nexus of global markets–religions–politics and implications for research

Abstract

This essay explores Islamic marketing at the intersection of global capitalism and global Islam and argues that Islamic marketing is one case in point that global capitalism lives and thrives with religions rather than replace them. I review briefly the global rise of religions and the different accounts of that resurgence and point to the political nature of religions. Besides politics, the global search for community bolsters the value of religion and the opportunity for Islamic marketing. Given the multiplicity of capitalisms and the embeddedness of marketing in the nexus of global markets, religions, and politics, I suggest that the emergent arena of Islamic marketing is ripe for studies grounded in the particular context and history as well as in recent social theory. Research can potentially generate theory about markets and marketing if and only if marketing scholars regard the phenomena of Islamic marketing as part and parcel of the logics of the market, capitalism, and globalization and examine the locally specific links among religion (and communality), markets, and politics. Critical ethnography and political economy analyses are some of the promising approaches for that end.