The Political Economy of Wasta: Use and Abuse of Social Capital Networking
The term ‘wasta’ stems from the Arabic root for ‘middle’ or ‘medium' and describes the phenomenon of using ‘connections’ to find job, government services or other favors to circumvent bureaucracy or bypass the system as a whole. The effects of ‘wasta’ may
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The Political Economy of Wasta: Use and Abuse of Social Capital Networking
The Political Economy of Wasta: Use and Abuse of Social Capital Networking
Mohamed A. Ramady Editor
The Political Economy of Wasta: Use and Abuse of Social Capital Networking
Editor Mohamed A. Ramady Finance and Economics King Fahd University Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
ISBN 978-3-319-22200-4 ISBN 978-3-319-22201-1 DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-22201-1
(eBook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015954665 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
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Overview
To accept a benefit is to sell one’s freedom Proverb
Introduction The issue of wasta is like the proverbial elephant in the room—everyone knows it exists but avoids mentioning the fact due to the sensitivity of the subject. The term wasta is used all over the Middle East and stems from the Arabic root for “middle” or “medium”. It indicates that there is a middleman or “connection” between somebody who wants a job, a license or government service and somebody who is in a position to provide it. Wasta describes the phenomenon of using “connections” to find jobs and obtain government services, licenses or degrees that would otherwise be out of reach or would take a long time or effort to obtain. Although the effects of wasta may also be positive, they are usually considered as negative and affect decision-making on all levels of Middle Eastern societies and other societies who use social capital networking in a negative manner. The use of wasta causes inequality and inefficiency when people without the necessary skills get jobs or are even promoted in case their inability becomes obvious. Although wasta is not identical to corruption, a W
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