Abstract
In the last five years, young people’s activism has become a central issue in intellectual discourse throughout the world, particularly in Middle Eastern countries. This book enriches the discourse on activism in a regional context. The discussion of young people as progressive activists forms a part of the affirmative action to reverse the mainstream discourse in society. Such activists are often viewed as socially unstable and violent groups in the social structure. This book shows that the vulnerability of young people in their transition to the world of employment is shaped by state hegemony, which in practice restricts participation of young people in the political space at the university level. As explored in this book, campus-based activism is actually a manifestation of cognitive creativity for young people, but the Jordanian government considers it as destructive, with the potential to be transformed into a political force that would threaten the state’s domestic security. The government’s concern is arguably sensible if we observe the historical trajectory of Jordanian politics. The book examines the Jordanian government’s political repression of student activism, which emerged from the political situations of the past, involving an interethnic conflict and the complexity of the political issues with its neighbor, Israel.
This book presents the case of the University of Jordan as an arena of political contestation for students and reflects on the impact of repressive forces of the state for the enforcement of moral values in order to preserve political stability. The state’s forces intend to create a patriotic citizenry that does not appear to violate Islamic values. In a constructive sense, student activism could be claimed as a success for the university because it can represent itself as an institution that instills critical thinking abilities. Moreover, through campus activism, Jordan’s goal to be seen as a country that promotes equal welfare and achieves modernization and competitiveness in a globalized world could be served. But the Jordanian government considers campus-based activism a politically subversive act and not an opportunity to develop modernization through critical thinking in higher education. The government even advances the notion that creating a political learning arena for students is a liminal function of the university. This situation is presented in detail in Chapter 4. The Jordanian government, through the Department of Student Affairs (Sh’un al-Talaba), apparently controls political practices on campus by prohibiting the growth of student organizations that criticize government educational policy, structural inequality, and technical issues such as higher tuition. Although the Sh’un al-Talaba has a streamlined structure and small committees, its political role in controlling student anti-government activism is emerging. In other words, the organization plays a significant role as a part of the state apparatus that preserves its hegemony. The book discusses the arrest of an activist on campus (who allegedly opposed the government) and the use of security threats against him and confirms that Jordan has the characteristics of a pseudo-democratic state. Even though educational policy appears to glorify citizen participation, and seemingly facilitates citizens’ creativity, in practice pro-government politics favor a single nationalist group. Such repressive conditions limit the space for student activism in politics and render the campus as unconducive for such activism. The complexity of Jordanian history, in connection with tribalism, also derails the political situation on campus.
This book allows us to clearly see how the Jordanian government is overly judgmental and concerned about the rapid growth of student organizations at the university level. This is exemplified by the pressure on the Muslim Brotherhood to halt their peaceful advocacy on campus. Nevertheless, the government has failed to stem students’ critical ideology, which can be seen by the continuing emergence of new student-driven social movements at the University of Jordan. Thabahtoona, a student movement of 2012, is a prominent example of students’ commitment to campus activism. As shown by this movement, student movements focus on social issues that have not been achieved before, such as equality among students. As students make a commitment to activism through Thabahtoona, they bring forth the contemporary sociopolitical issues that relate directly to young people, such as equal access to higher education, intellectual freedom, and ending security threats against student demonstrators. The book claims that the government’s actions towards young people engaging in activism are violently reactive, as can be seen in the various cases of state repression against peaceful political action at the University of Jordan. The mobilization of security forces, in addition to warnings to the student body, reflects the failure to mobilize citizenship as part of Jordanian education’s vision. While militancy controls the university arena, cultural issues that dilute young people’s participation in the productive labor market remain strong.
Although the government, through a public university, seeks to create a modern and civilized country, the labor market remains in an alarming situation. The aim of the public university to increase employability is going nowhere. The dream of the government of creating opportunities of globalization for university graduates has actually created a dilemma. In Chapter 5, the author refers to the labor market for university graduates as a ‘field of struggle,’ to use Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological lens, where the graduates must break through a series of structural challenges in Jordanian society. Although the number of public university graduates in Jordan has been increasing annually and the government considers this a measure of success for higher education in the country, it turns out that not all graduates get a decent job in their homeland. This challenge is addressed by students across social economic strata in Jordan. Cantini portrays a challenging labor market facing graduates of the University of Jordan. Female graduates, in particular, face double burdens. Good grades do not guarantee them equality with men in the social hierarchy, and their academic achievements only improve their bargaining position before a prospective husband. If they marry, women only have limited choices for their future: either they become housewives or they work outside the home. Family responsibilities limit them to a narrow selection of workplaces, which in turn causes them to focus even more on domestic life. This is why women prefer working in the government-owned sector: shorter working hours, which allows them to balance work and life. But the limited availability of jobs in government offices prolongs their suffering. Those failing to secure jobs in that sector ultimately spend their time taking care of the household.
Using an ethnographic approach, the book discloses the structural barriers young people face when trying to enter the labor market. This approach allows the author to immerse himself in the students’ social environment at the University of Jordan and to be involved in daily interaction with local students. Wasta (translated as nepotism) is an important feature of the system. Graduates need to have a friend in order to secure a job. Such practices remain at the heart of everyday life in the bureaucracy of the Jordanian government. Unemployment seems to be a dire problem in Jordan, which is primarily associated with tribalism and undermines the foundations of young people’s lives. Ethnic stereotyping is another strongly embedded problem in labor market competition (and this has been consistently raised by students in political activism on campus). To conclude, this book is highly recommended, especially to those interested in youth activism and associated political situations such as sociologists and anthropologists studying social movements and political scholars.