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In Pursuit of `Good Society’: Navigating Politics, Marriage, and Adulthood in Contemporary Jordan

Shahrani, Shahreena
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1471545445

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures.
This dissertation studies the role that marriage plays in contemporary Jordanian youths’ collective action and social imaginaries. I argue that marriage should be studied as part of politics as it is linked to popular perceptions regarding the state’s function (or dysfunction) in Jordan. In addition, I argue that marriage needs to be considered as a potential site for youths’ socio-political agency, as marriage involves not only practical considerations about money and employment but also strategies, practices, and efforts to realize their imagination of what state-society relationship should be (social imaginaries). I study marriage through a variety of ethnographic and expressive cultural forms (through field interviews, popular literature, music, cartoons, graffiti, and films) in order to better understand what Ammani youth have to say about marriage and society. Popular culture appeals to young people in Amman because it often resembles their own lived experiences and depicts how individuals can overcome hardship. Field experiences and conversations reveal how marriage concerns are linked to national and everyday politics. The strategies youths actively pursue—from individual and familial networking to saving cooperatives and employment abroad—can be seen as expressions of agency in pursuit of their social imaginaries. Their search for educated, pious, and employed partner with similar views about marriage, society, and piety further emphasizes the link between the public and the private sphere, and the personal and the political. Despite young people’s efforts to pursue individual and societal goals, generational fears allude to older generations pushing back against societal change. Since decisions and actions regarding marriage are tightly connected to political, economic, and social institutions, marriage serves as a lens to understand popular debates and sentiments among Ammani youths. Thus, it offers insights into why Jordan has avoided the systemic change of recent “people’s revolutions” in the region.
Sabra Webber (Advisor)
Ila Nagar (Committee Member)
Morgan Liu (Committee Member)
Johanna Sellman (Committee Member)
216 p.
Cultural Anthropology; Families and Family Life; Gender Studies; Mass Media; Middle Eastern Studies; Near Eastern Studies
social imaginaries, good society, Jordan, Arab youths, marriage crisis, youth crisis, Arab Spring, marginality, agency

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Shahrani, S. (2016). In Pursuit of `Good Society’: Navigating Politics, Marriage, and Adulthood in Contemporary Jordan [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1471545445

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Shahrani, Shahreena. In Pursuit of `Good Society’: Navigating Politics, Marriage, and Adulthood in Contemporary Jordan. 2016. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1471545445.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Shahrani, Shahreena. "In Pursuit of `Good Society’: Navigating Politics, Marriage, and Adulthood in Contemporary Jordan." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1471545445

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1471545445
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.