Mehmet Asutay

Professor Mehmet Asutay has a BA in Public Finance from the University of Istanbul (Turkey); continued for MSc in Public Finance at the University of Istanbul; has a Postgraduate Diploma in Economic and Social Policy Analysis, University of York (UK); MA in Economics of Public Policy, Department of Economics of the University of Leicester (UK); Ph.D. in Political Economics, University of Leicester (UK).

Mehmet joined the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University in 2005 and later moved to Durham University Business School in January 2014 with the transfer of all Islamic finance-related programmes to the DUBS.

Mehmet teaches and supervises research on Islamic Political Economy; Islamic Moral Economy; Islamic Banking, Finance and Management; and Political Economy of Development in the Middle East, including Turkish Political Economy and Kurdish Political Economy.

He is the Director of the Durham Centre for Islamic Economics and Finance, the Programme Director for MSc in Islamic Finance and MSc in Islamic Finance & Management, and the Director of the Durham Islamic Finance Summer School.

Mehmet is the Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Islamic and Society, Editor-in-Chief of the Review of Islamic Economics, and in the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management and Borsa Istanbul Review.

He is a board member of the IAIE (International Association for Islamic Economics).

Current Research

Mehmet’s recent research includes the construction of an Islamic moral/political economy, which has been considered as an incomplete project since the early 1970s. By following the earlier contributions made by the founding fathers, Mehmet aims to systemise Islamic political economy as the defining framework for the moral or social economy aimed at by Islamic economics, a term that falls short of aspirations. In addition to theorising Islamic moral political economy, Mehmet is researching the articulation of various forms of Islamic moral economy in the larger Muslim world as part of the existing and emerging moralities. Secondly, Mehmet develops the discourse around the ‘social and developmental failure’ of Islamic banking and finance in relation to the expressed ideals of the Islamic moral economy. In reflecting on the political economy nature of Islamic finance, he is also researching the political economy of Islamic finance related developments in various parts of the world (particularly in the GCC, Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey). Mehmet is also involved in empirical research in various aspects of Islamic finance and Islamic business ethics. He has recently been involved in research and policy work on sustainable development and Islamic finance, mainly focusing on theory and governance dynamics.

Mini Biography

Director, Durham Centre in Islamic Economics and Finance

 

• Islamic moral economy/Islamic economics
• Islamic political economy
• Islamic finance, banking and management
• Sustainable development
• Ethics in economics and finance
• Political economy of development – Middle East, Turkey and Kurds

• 2024: Member, AAOIFI Education Board :
• 2023: Visiting Professor, Academy of Islamic Civilisation, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor:
• 2021: Visiting Professor, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia:
• 2019: Editor-in-Chief, American Journal Islam and Society, since 2019:
• 2019: Editor-in-Chief, Review of Islamic Economic, since 2000:
• 2018: Chairman, AAOIFI Education Board :
• 2016: Co-Director, Research Network (R): Islamic Moral Economy and Finance, SASE:
• 2014: Member of the International Editorial Advisory Board, Borsa Istanbul Review, since 2014:
• 2013: Member of the Council of Experts, Democratic Progress Institute, London, UK:
• 2012: Palgrave Studies in Islamic Banking, Finance, and Economics – Book Series: Book Series
• 2011: Member of the Editorial Advisory Board, International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, since 2011:
• 2011: Member of the Editorial Advisory Board, Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, since 2010:
• 2007: Fellow, Advanced Higher Education:
• 2000: Member of the Executive Committee, International Association for Islamic Economics: