Journal of Critical Realism in Socio-Economics (JOCRISE)

Digital Transformation and Sustainable Development: Challenges, Risks and New Models of Economic Growth

Aliyeva Baglan Muratovna — 2026-04-30

This research aims to identify key economic growth models shaped by digital transformation, assess associated risks, and determine the conditions for their compatibility with sustainable development principles, using Kazakhstan as a case study. A comparative-analytical and structural-functional approach is applied. The empirical base comprises data from the Agency for Strategic Planning of Kazakhstan, the National Bank of Kazakhstan, public reports of Kaspi.kz and Halyk Bank, and World Economic Forum Network Readiness Index (NRI) data for 2019–2024. The findings indicate that Digital transformation in Kazakhstan is developing asynchronously: the financial sector leads while industry and agriculture lag critically. The super-app business model generates sustainable growth but creates data monopolisation risks. ESG integration remains declarative without measurable KPIs. The digital tenge pilot opens prospects for enhanced fiscal transparency. The originality of this research for the first time, a comprehensive analysis of Kazakhstan's digital transformation is conducted through three interrelated dimensions economic growth, ESG integration, and external economic risks using scenario forecasting and case analysis of leading fintech players.

BOOK REVIEW: Abu Nasr Al-Farabi (trans. by Richard Walzer) (1985). On the Perfect State (Mabadi’ ara’ahl al-madinat al-fadilah). Oxford University Press, Oxford, Eng.

Masud Choudhury — 2026-04-30

This book review critically examines On the Perfect State (Mabadi’ ara’ ahl al-madinat al-fadilah) by Abu Nasr Al-Farabi, translated by Richard Walzer, through the perspective of critical realism. The review explores Al-Farabi’s metaphysical conception of the First Cause, the process of cosmological emanation, and the relationship between essence and materiality in the structure of existence. The analysis argues that although Al-Farabi presents a sophisticated ontological hierarchy integrating metaphysics and political philosophy, his framework reveals methodological and epistemological limitations, particularly regarding the relational meaning of Tawhid and the causal interconnection among existents. From a critical realist standpoint, the text insufficiently explains the generative mechanisms linking divine unity, ethical consciousness, and material reality. Nevertheless, the work remains a foundational contribution to Islamic philosophy and continues to stimulate contemporary debates on ontology, epistemology, and social reality.

The Qur’anic Concept of Charity an Approach to Resolve Contemporary Economic Challenges

Kausar Ali — 2026-04-30

The practice of usury (riba) has become an integral component of contemporary economic systems across secular, liberal, and religious societies. Although widely accepted as a financial mechanism, usury often promotes unjust and exploitative relations that disproportionately burden poor, marginalized, and financially vulnerable individuals. Interest-based economic practices encourage wealth concentration, excessive profit-seeking, and social inequality while weakening ethical responsibility and communal welfare. Existing legal and regulatory frameworks have proven insufficient in eliminating exploitative financial practices disguised as legitimate economic activities. This study examines the Qur’anic concept of charity as an alternative economic approach grounded in justice, compassion, and social responsibility. Using the perspective of Critical Realism, the paper argues that charity functions not merely as an act of personal generosity but as a transformative socio-economic mechanism capable of addressing structural inequality and reducing dependency on exploitative financial systems. The Qur’anic model emphasizes equitable wealth distribution, protection of vulnerable groups, and the promotion of mutual trust and collective wellbeing. The study further contrasts the ethical foundations of capitalism, socialism, and the Qur’anic economic framework. While capitalism prioritizes freedom and profit maximization, and socialism emphasizes equality, the Qur’anic Deen places justice as the central principle governing economic and social relations. The findings suggest that Qur’anic charity provides a humane and universally applicable model for promoting economic justice, reducing inequality, strengthening social solidarity, and fostering sustainable societal prosperity.

A Critical Analysis of Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas’s View on Adam Smith’s Market Mechanism within the Framework of Hisbah and the Tawhidic Paradigm

Muhamad Lukman Hanif — 2026-04-30

This article critically analyzes Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas’s philosophical perspective on Adam Smith’s market mechanism, particularly the concept of the invisible hand. While Smith’s theory assumes that self-interest and competition can naturally lead to social welfare, al-Attas challenges this notion as a manifestation of the secular worldview that separates economics from divine values. Through his Tawhidic paradigm, al-Attas argues that the invisible hand cannot function as a moral regulator because it operates independently of revelation and adab. Instead, he proposes that true market harmony must emerge from the restoration of adab—right knowledge and proper conduct guided by the recognition of God’s sovereignty. Within this framework, the institution of Hisbah represents the social embodiment of adab: a moral and spiritual system ensuring justice (‘adl), balance (mizan), and accountability in market activities. Hisbah, therefore, becomes the “visible hand” of divine order, directing economic interactions toward spiritual welfare (falah) rather than mere material gain. This study concludes that al-Attas’s conceptualization of Hisbah within the Tawhidic worldview provides a transformative framework for rehumanizing modern markets and grounding economic policies in both ethical and metaphysical dimensions aligned with Islamic and Pancasila values.

Strategies of Da’wah through Tourism: Opportunities and Challenges in the Age of Globalization

Md Moslim Haider — 2026-04-30

Tourism has become an important platform for communicating Islamic values and strengthening Da‘wah through ethical, cultural, and Halal-based experiences. This study examines the role of Da‘wah in tourism through the development of a systematic Halal ecosystem that includes Halal hospitality, modest fashion, Islamic entertainment, ethical services, and effective Islamic communication. The study uses a qualitative method based on library research and document analysis. Data are collected from books, journal articles, reports, and other academic sources related to Halal tourism, Islamic lifestyle industries, Islamic communication, and Da‘wah practices. These sources are analyzed thematically to identify key concepts, opportunities, challenges, and strategies for integrating Da‘wah with tourism. The study finds that tourism can serve not only as an economic activity but also as a meaningful medium for presenting Islamic teachings, values, ethics, and ways of life to Muslim and non-Muslim tourists. A well-structured Halal ecosystem can strengthen Da‘wah by offering tourists a positive experience of Islam through services, behavior, environment, communication, and cultural presentation. Key elements such as Halal food, prayer facilities, modest dress, family-friendly entertainment, Islamic hospitality, and respectful communication help present Islam as peaceful and organized modern life. However, several challenges remain, including differences in Halal standards, weak stakeholder coordination, commercialization of Islamic symbols, globalization, and difficulties in communicating Islamic values in multicultural tourism settings. The study concludes that an integrated Halal tourism strategy based on Islamic principles, professional tourism management, stakeholder cooperation, and culturally sensitive Da‘wah communication can strengthen Halal tourism and promote Islamic values positively and practically.

A Critical Realist Reading on The Banking & Interest Crisis

Rodney Shakespeare — 2026-01-30

This paper examines the ontological nature of modern money creation and the destructive socio-economic impacts of compound interest. It seeks to expose how the private banking sector’s monopoly on money creation through debt-entry mechanisms serves as a fundamental barrier to human rights, mental health, and ecological sustainability. Using a critical political economy approach and a socio-legal case study analysis, the research investigates the mechanics of fractional reserve and credit-creation banking. It specifically analyzes the correlation between usurious debt structures and social collapse, utilizing the Indian agrarian crisis (1997–2010) as a primary case study for the human cost of compound interest. The study reveals that approximately 95% of the global money supply is created as debt by private institutions, making "scarcity" a systemic artifact rather than a physical reality. The research identifies "Accumulated International Debt Syndrome" (AIDS) as a neo-colonial mechanism that prevents developing nations from achieving sovereignty. Furthermore, it demonstrates that "financial unviability" in green energy projects—such as tidal lagoons—is often a mathematical consequence of interest-based discounting rather than a lack of technological or resource feasibility. This paper bridges the gap between monetary theory and humanitarian ethics. By reframing 200,000 farmer suicides not as individual tragedies but as "systemic executions" caused by interest-bearing logic, the work calls for a paradigm shift toward debt-free sovereign money and the abolition of usurious frameworks to facilitate civilizational progress.

A Critical Realist Reading on Global Poverty and Social Impact

Rodney Shakespeare — 2026-01-30

This paper critically analyzes the socio-economic narrative of the "useless class" emerging from the discourse of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), as championed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and figures like Yuval Noah Harari. It seeks to investigate how this narrative serves as a precursor to systemic exclusion and new forms of global authoritarianism. Utilizing a critical realism framework and political economy analysis, the study dissects the convergence of technocratic ideology, financialization, and digital surveillance. It maps the power structures of the "Global Asset Monopoly"—specifically the network of 147 companies controlling 40% of global wealth—to understand the structural drivers of human marginalization. The research identifies a transition toward "Digital Fascism," where Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and social credit scoring function as mechanisms for total behavioral compliance. Furthermore, the study finds that immersive technologies like the Metaverse are positioned not merely as entertainment, but as tools for cognitive pacification to manage a population rendered economically redundant by automation and systemic poverty. By synthesizing the critiques of financialization with the psychological implications of the 4IR, this paper offers a unique perspective on the existential threat to human agency. It argues that the "uselessness" of humanity is not a technological inevitability, but a deliberate political construct designed to consolidate power within a hyper-centralized global elite.

BOOK REVIEW John Maynard Keynes, 1963. Essays in Persuasion, “The Future”, W.W. Norton, New York

JOCRISE Editorial Group — 2026-01-31

This book review examines John Maynard Keynes’s Essays in Persuasion, particularly the essay “The Future,” as a profound ethical and epistemological reflection on the trajectory of modern economic civilization. The review aims to reassess Keynes not merely as a founder of modern macroeconomics, but as a moral thinker concerned with the wellbeing of future generations. Keynes critically challenges the dominance of wealth accumulation, usury, and material obsession, advocating instead for a return to ethical purpose, leisure, and human flourishing. The review highlights Keynes’s distinction between money as an instrument for productive regeneration and money as an object of pathological accumulation. It further interprets his vision through a dynamic framework linking money, capital formation, technology, and social wellbeing via circular causation. By revisiting Keynes’s foresight in light of contemporary crises stagflation, inequality, and ethical erosion this review underscores the enduring relevance of his moral critique for rethinking economic policy, monetary governance, and the future of global wellbeing.

Introduction to Qur'anic Wisdwom

Kausar Ali — 2025-10-31

The human Span of Knowability is limited to boundaries defined by Logical Positivism. The Quran as a book of Knowledge is Message contents revealed from God Almighty. The messages in general may broadly be classified into two broad categories i.e. LEARNING and ACADEMIC. The text contents LEARNING in nature are set of Communication materials calling one to change of its behavior voluntarily i.e. Commanding Response appropriate to Specific Message Contents. The other broader class i.e. ACADEMIC are Text Contents that do not command change of behavior or response expressed through conscience, intents, motivations and actions reflected as ATTITUDES. The holy Quran is explored as Message Contents primarily directed to Change of Behaviour and hence LEARNING in nature. The Quranic Learning Texts are attached with dire consequences in terms of Perpetual bliss and Everlasting sufferings and hence referred as Quranic Wisdoms. The success is the result of commitment and actions in due response to such inherent Wisdoms. It provides with basic ingredients for building of Personalities. The Quranic Wisdoms are communicated through combination of Text forms i.e. MUHKAMAAT and MUTASHABIHAAT. The text contents of MUTASHABIHAAT are essentially Unknowable yet Inferable (through reason) whereas as the texts of MUHKAMAAT are direct, precise, perceptible and observable i.e. Knowable in essence. The progress of behavioral change may be evaluated amid various changing environments and circumstances presented as Quranic Templates. The effective monitoring of change observed across various Quranic Templates can be used as tools for right development of Ordinary Self leading to True Islamic Personalities.

BOOK REVIEW: Principal Model of Divergence In Increasing Inequality In Thomas Piketty (Translated By Arthur Goldhammer). Capital In The Twenty-First Century. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England 2014.

Masud Choudhury — 2025-10-31

The section towards the end is a focused extract from the above masterpiece by Thomas Picketty. The question raised in this partial book review is that the current egalitarian expectation of Islamic Economics, Finance, and Social Contract by shari’ah scholars is untenable in a market economy. Thereby, only an abounding rich and enforcing policy mechanism of non-democratic states can provide exogenously power-structure of such countries to institutionalize Islamic socio-economic enforcement structure, while avoiding the endogenous market process. Yet it is the latter socio-economic structure that induces the most central driving force of the Islamic worldview. That is, the endogenous induction of essential qur’anic knowledge of unity of knowledge, explained by the socio-economic structure of participated complementary in the order of ‘everything’. The qur’anic overarching meaning of maqasid as-shari’ah as the DIVINE WAY is invoked and implicated as the Law of Tawhid. This is explained and continuously sustained as the universal law of unity of knowledge induced by consciousness in ‘everything’, That is the unifying structure of pairing as the regenerative structure of ‘pairing’ in ‘everything’.

What is Scientific Reality?

Mohammad Shahadat Hossain — 2025-10-31

Scientific progress in AI, Big Data, and FINTECH has revolutionized human life but also intensified inequality, surveillance, and ecological crises. This paper argues that such contradictions arise from modern science’s separation of morality from materiality. It advances the Law of Unity of Knowledge, integrating ethical consciousness (“being”) with empirical reality (“becoming”) through circular causation. The framework, rooted in insights from Einstein, Hawking, Whitehead, and Imam Ghazali, culminates in a Wellbeing Function that links sustainability to moral-material complementarity. Applications include ethical AI in healthcare and Qur’ānic principles of trusteeship in agriculture, redefining scientific reality as holistic, ethical, and transformative

A Critical Realist Proposal on Planetary Oneness Paradigm

Rodney Shakespeare — 2026-01-30

A major paradigm is the civilizational understanding of reality that dictates everyday life; thus, a paradigm shift is of immense significance. This paper presents large-scale research into the factors contributing to such shifts, resulting in the "Planetary Oneness Paradigm." This framework embodies universal unity and interconnectedness, challenging today’s mainstream reductionist understanding, which is outdated, inaccurate, and static. The paper investigates the historical roots of our current crisis, beginning with the geocentric Ptolemaic paradigm. That view established an authoritarian "Divine Right" for rulers and granted humans planetary dominion as "God’s Children." The first paradigm shift, the Copernican Revolution, introduced a heliocentric universe, undermining authoritarianism while maintaining human status. The second shift, Darwinism, reframed humans as one species among many engaged in a struggle for survival. This, alongside the rise of Homo economicus, summarized life as "Survival of the Fittest," fueling aggression, colonialism, and environmental depredation. Concurrently, mainstream economics consolidated fundamental assumptions that the Industrial Revolution had already rendered false. This research identifies 59 such false assumptions and discovers that their opposites are true. These true opposites form the components of a third paradigm shift: a Shared World View. This view unifies Science and Religion, offering practical solutions to seemingly insoluble global problems—including universal basic income, wide capital ownership, and voluntary population stabilization. By changing material circumstances, this paradigm enables the evolution of a selfish Homo economicus into an environmentally responsible Homo co-operans, providing genuine hope for the future.

The Advantages of Free Trade Over Tariffs

Emmanuel M. Asprodites — 2025-10-31

The term paper examines the historic conflict between protectionism and free trade, arguing that unilateral free trade is the superior economic policy. While tariffs are traditionally justified as tools to guard home industries and protect jobs, economic theory and existing evidence confirm that such protectionist behavior ultimately reduces economic efficiency, raises consumer prices, and hurts long-run growth. Drawing from the initial theories of David Ricardo and Adam Smith and Austrian economists today, the paper describes how open markets, specialization, and comparative advantage provide a win-win scenario for trading nations. Historical evidence from case studies like Britain's post-Corn Laws period and the East Asian export-led growth is testimony that countries thrive if free trade is permitted. Lastly, the evidence is in favor of the argument that free trade is not just economically optimal but also ethical, and should be embraced as a means to greater prosperity and global development.

Decentering - from Ptolemaic to Planetary (or Oneness) Paradigm

Rodney Shakespeare — 2025-10-31

The Ptolemaic paradigm put the Earth at the centre of the universe giving rulers a Divine Right (to rule) and awarding humans high status as God’s Children who had planetary dominion. However, in the sixteenth century, the Copernican Revolution decentered the Earth and so began undermining the Divine Right although it continued the high status and planetary dominion. Three centuries later, Darwinian Evolution, establishing that Homo sapiens is only one species among many, decentered humans from their high status. Nevertheless, it did not check the dominion. Indeed, Evolution did the opposite and gave humans a licence to pillage. Moreover, the licence exacerbated the aggressive tendencies of Homo economicus as developed by John Stuart Mill. Influenced by Malthus and Tennyson, Herbert Spenser then united Darwin and Mill proclaiming Survival of the Fittest thereby encouraging the imperialism and economic expansionism which would plunder the planet and result in today’s environmental crises. However, the Planetary (or Oneness) Paradigm, in a third decentering, remembers that humans are part of, and not separate from, the planet as a whole and enables Homo economicus to evolve into Homo co-operans thereby creating beneficial outcomes and enabling A Shared World View.

BOOK REVIEW: NOBEL LAUREATE PROFESSOR DR. MUHAMMAD YUNUS, (2017). A WORLD OF THREE ZEROS, THE NEW ECONOMICS OF ZERO POVERTY, ZERO UNEMPLOYMENT AND ZERO NET CARBON EMISSIONS.

Masud Choudhury — 2025-08-01

This book review critically examines A World of Three Zeros by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, which advocates for a new economic paradigm centered on zero poverty, zero unemployment, and zero net carbon emissions through the model of social business. While Yunus proposes social business as a moral and practical alternative to profit-maximizing capitalism, the review highlights key limitations in his framework. It notes the lack of epistemological depth and systemic methodological rigor in challenging entrenched capitalist structures. Moreover, while Yunus emphasizes microcredit and entrepreneurship, he under-theorizes the institutional transformation necessary to sustain a global order of social business. The book's optimism about technological change and development partnerships with capitalist entities also reveals contradictions in its critique of neoliberal economics. The reviewer introduces an alternative worldview based on the episteme of Tawhid and critical realism, advocating for a consciousness-based civilization rooted in unity of knowledge, justice, and moral purpose. Through diagrams and conceptual models, the review suggests that Yunus’s vision, though morally appealing, lacks the structural, philosophical, and theological grounding needed to realize sustainable transformation. A more coherent socio-economic alternative would require integrating ethics, consciousness, and systemic complementarity into the heart of development discourse.