21st-Century Jordanian Identities: At the Intersection of Media and Neoliberal Investment
Betty S. Anderson
Boston University
When King Abdullah II ascended the Jordanian throne in 1999, he accelerated the economic privatization campaign that KingHusayn had begun a decade earlier. Local and regional investment, coupled with incentives and infrastructure improvements initiated by the Amman Municipality, have transfigured old and new neighborhoods in the capital as locales of consumption, entertainment and socializing. Rainbow Street and parts of downtown read as tourist destinations; the Abdali project as a reimagined BeirutiSolidere. Abdoun Circle, JabalHusayn, and neighborhoods in East Amman layer new consumer options onto streets still recognizable to long-term residents. The Dead Sea region has seen a proliferation of 4- and 5-star hotels, malls, and apartment blocks. Residents can consume these sites because of increased salaries and easier access to credit and loans.
From his first days on the throne, King Abdullah has also inauguratedseveral national tourism and domestic media campaigns to attract visitors to the country and generate local loyalty for the new economic programs. These campaigns have advertised a Jordan open for investment and attractive to those visitors looking forbedouin heritage, eco-friendly destinations, and/or luxurious accommodations. Domestically, the “Jordan First,” “We Are All Jordan”, “Raise Your Head”, and “Arab Revolt 100”media campaigns have called on Jordanians and Palestinians to unite together for the greater good of the nation. Social media sites have enabled the owners and customers to present their own images of these newly built and reconfigured spaces, images that embrace the country’s neoliberal direction but which also highlight the differences in class, society and gender that these changes have wrought. These images and messagesfrequently reinforce the media messages coming from the king while also showing how residents have taken ownership over the new spaces and Jordan’s many identities in ways unanticipated by planners. I propose to examine how the state and the citizenry are using the media of this new Jordan to definethe changes and their role within them.