International Conference on Eurasian Economies
9-11 September 2015 – Kazan, RUSSIA
Paper detail
Paper ID : 1281
Status : Paper published
Language : Russian
Topic : Regional Economics
Presenter: Alsou Garaeva
Session : 4E Региональные экономики
Economics of the Muslim Everyday Life: Religious and Economic Practices of Muslims in the Republic of Tatarstan
Экономика мусульманской повседневности: религиозные и экономические практики мусульман Республики Татарстан
- Alsou Garaeva (Kazan Federal University, Russia)
Abstract
The change of the economic model in Russia in the beginning of the 1990’s has laid basis for the public institutionalization of religious associations. The sphere of commercial religious services has appeared and a diversification of the religious practices has begun. In the regions of Russian Federation Muslims make up about 10%, including Tatarstan with a Muslim majority of about 50%. This creates a fertile soil for the business targeted for satisfying Muslims’ needs. The research that we have carried out as a part of the quality strategy, and particularly, the depth interview, the expert survey and the overt observation, shows that there are some barriers to introduction and successful development of such elements of the Islamic economics as Islamic banking and Islamic insurance. And the explanation for this fact lies in everyday, microcosociological practices. The services of "Muslim" taxi or messages informing about the prayers time didn't "survive" in Tatarstan. Nevertheless, there are 29 prosperous catering enterprises which specialize in "halal" meals, 34 Muslim clothes and accompanying goods shops, 6 Islamic bookstores, 3 large travel agencies organizing pilgrimage tours, and two beauty parlors using "halal" standard cosmetics in the Tatar capital. Thus a successful business is usually connected to the Muslims' everyday needs. The results of investigations indicate that introduction of new religious services require a careful preliminary study of the market and of the needs of the religious people, the exact forecast of the demand of the specific services and goods.
JEL codes: A13, R11, Z12
Garaeva, Alsou (2015). "Economics of the Muslim Everyday Life: Religious and Economic Practices of Muslims in the Republic of Tatarstan" in Proceedings of International Conference of Eurasian Economies 2015, pp.812-815, Kazan, RUSSIA.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36880/C06.01281
Session 4E: Региональные экономики
