Professor and Associate Director of the School of Accounting -
USA
16/06/2002
Current
privatization efforts dwarf all which have gone before. In general,
the "less developed" nations, including peoples of the
Muslim faith, seem to have attracted the advocates of privatization.
Disturbing results are obtained when the substance and process of
privatization are juxtaposed to the teaching of Islam. In certain
cases, privatization may result in the transfer of wealth from
relatively weak hands (i.e., from the debtor governments of the less
developed nations) to relatively strong hands (i.e., consortia of
international entrepreneurs). Islam teaches the opposite: It
recognizes the right of the less able in the wealth of those who
have greater ability or the opportunity to produce greater wealth (Mirakhor,
1989). The outcomes of privatization are important to peace and
security. Consequently, the emergence of privatization as a cat's
paw in political discourse is not a good omen. For example, Abdelhak
Benhamouda, Algeria's labor leader, "opposes any privatizations
undertaken on the 'back' of the workers and demanded (sic)
'guarantees' from the government" (AFX
News, 1995). The article defines privatization and discusses its
structural and operational problems in light of religious
imperatives.
Felix
Pomeranz is a Professor and Associate Director of the
School of Accounting at Flordia International University in
Miami and is also affiliated with the Department of Religious
Studies. He is a retired partner of Coopers & Lybrand.
