A Crisis of Identity Palestinian Christian contributions to Amman s modern urbanity.pdf (1.47 MB)
Download fileA ‘crisis of identity’? Palestinian Christian contributions to Amman’s modern urbanity
journal contribution
posted on 2022-10-19, 08:13 authored by Annabel EvansAmman, as the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, has been said
to suffer from a crisis of identity, a condition that is seen as impinging a
sense of authentic urban memory and form. As it has become the
destination of multiple refugee and migrant communities seeking safety
in Jordan, Amman’s subsequent migrant make-up has been primarily
narrated as a burden – on space, on resources and on understandings
of the Jordanian national self-preventing a sense of national unity being
found within its capital. Countering these narratives of burden and
crises, this paper seeks to reconceptualise the role of migrants in
Jordan’s capital as contributing to and participating in the development
of Amman as a modern urban centre. By discussing one particular
communal group – Palestinian Christians – and their contributions to
the socio-spatial fabric of the city this paper aims to promote a shift in
narrative around Amman in particular, and Jordan in general, as one
which can embrace its history of not only migrating people but their
ideas of modernity and urbanity and how they are imprinted on the
urban landscape today.
Funding
Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers under the Dudley Stamp Memorial Award
History
School
- Social Sciences and Humanities
Department
- Geography and Environment