Publikation International / Transnational - North Africa - War / Peace Social Justice in Jordan

Laying a Foundation for Social Justice Discussions in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Identity Center for Human Development, Amman.

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Dezember 2014

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The last half-century has witnessed a dramatic proliferation of literature regarding social justice. Quickly gaining traction, the term has permeated into the vocabulary of the development world, entering organizational dictions and increasingly constituting a key pillar in many NGOs’ mandates. The term “social justice,” however, has not yet become prevalent in Jordan. It has not been adopted by NGOs or policy research institutions (PRIs) in Jordan and it has neither inserted itself in most Jordanians’ vocabularies, nor become a topic of popular discussion. Of course, this terminological absence in no way suggests that the concept of social justice is somehow irrelevant or inapplicable in the Jordanian context. On the contrary, social injustice is rampant in the Kingdom, and its prevalence has provoked the emergence of a number of important non-governmental and semi-governmental organizations that are now working towards the rectification of these injustices. Thus, while the term social justice has not yet penetrated the language of Jordanian NGOs and PRIs, many of these organizations are nonetheless engaged in crucial work towards realizing social justice.

Appreciating the important work that is already being done to combat social injustice, this paper is not intended to serve as the genesis for social justice work in Jordan. Instead, it represents the first stage of a larger project in which the Identity Center seeks to introduce the concepts and tools of social justice into the Jordanian lexicon and popular discourse. This introductory paper to social justice in Jordan will serve three purposes: (1) provide a framework and vocabulary for analyzing social injustices in Jordan, (2) lay a foundation for a better understanding of how Jordanians understand social justice and (3) begin to isolate key social justice issues in Jordan. For each objective, a correspondingly numbered section of this paper is dedicated.

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