Re-Writing the State: National Identity and Political Challenge in 1950s Jordan (2008)

Undergraduate: Samuel Dolbee

Faculty Advisor: Sarah Shields
Department: History

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My thesis examines Jordanian identity during the tumultuous 1950s. A construction of colonial powers and local elites, Jordan changed greatly with the creation of the state of Israel. Between the dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and the Jordanian occupation of the West Bank, the population within Jordan’s borders doubled. But the Jordanian dilemma proved not just humanitarian but also ontological. What did it mean to be Jordanian in this context?

The rise of Arab nationalism complicated divisions between Palestinians and Jordanians. The unwavering anti-colonial message of Egypt’s Gamal Abdul Nasser attracted the support of many across the Arab world, especially Palestinians. The tightrope Jordan’s King Hussein walked between Arab nationalism and reliance on colonial powers became tenuous.

But as political allegiances shifted, so too did Jordanian identity. Following the existential threat of mass protests surrounding the Baghdad Pact in late 1955, the state promoted a vision of Jordan that included Palestinians. Following the aborted elite coup of 1957, the state incorporated powerful Arab nationalist rhetoric similar to Nasser in defining Jordan. In each case, state-controlled school textbooks reveal re-definitions of Jordanian identity that legitimized state power and enhanced state credibility.