Abstract
Citizenship is an under-appreciated and over-assumed facet in the study of contemporary Jordanian politics. The purpose of this chapter is to provide the necessary understanding of citizenship as a concept both in the abstract and in context. Regarding the former, this includes a side-by-side outline of citizenship in its conventionally recognised Anglo-European form, along with its Arabic counterparts jinsiyyah and muwātanah. Concerning the latter, the chapter considers the textual pillars of Jordan’s citizenship regime, namely, the Constitution and Nationality Law, and some of their contemporary applications and implications. Under these two functions, the chapter encourages the reader to take citizenship, the foundation of political communities across the globe, seriously, and critically in political analyses.
In many ways, the authoritarian bargain that has been the foundation of society has collapsed and people are searching for a new social contract with the state and between themselves … one that is founded on a more inclusive and equitable basis, entailing new notions of citizenship. (Meijer and Butenschǿn 2017, p. 3)
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Notes
- 1.
As part of the 2011 constitutional amendments, the jurisdiction of the SSC was limited to treason, terrorism, and espionage. Whatever safety-net this provided to journalists, bloggers and other online content builders, it has not stopped charges being laid. This is especially so after the widening of the definition of terrorism in 2014.
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Esber, P. (2019). Citizenship. In: Kumaraswamy, P.R. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9166-8_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9166-8_11
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