Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 A Brief History of Internet Diffusion and Impact in the Middle East
- 2 IT 4 Regime Change: Networking around the State in Egypt
- 3 No More Red Lines: Networking around the State in Jordan
- 4 Hurry Up and Wait: Oppositional Compliance and Networking around the State in Kuwait
- 5 The Micro-demise of Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Working around the State in Comparative Perspective
- 6 Fear the State: Repression and the Risks of Resistance in the Middle East
- Conclusion
- Appendix Internet User Interview Questions
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - No More Red Lines: Networking around the State in Jordan
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 A Brief History of Internet Diffusion and Impact in the Middle East
- 2 IT 4 Regime Change: Networking around the State in Egypt
- 3 No More Red Lines: Networking around the State in Jordan
- 4 Hurry Up and Wait: Oppositional Compliance and Networking around the State in Kuwait
- 5 The Micro-demise of Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Working around the State in Comparative Perspective
- 6 Fear the State: Repression and the Risks of Resistance in the Middle East
- Conclusion
- Appendix Internet User Interview Questions
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The Jordanian Spring will culminate into the elections, which will usher in the Jordanian Summer – our season of hard work and delivery. The Jordanian Summer will start with the upcoming new Parliament and will proceed from under its dome as the harvest season to build on the historic reforms achieved so far. (AFP 2012)
What is going on around us, in terms of the Arab Spring, is not far from you. So beware from a patient person's anger, for we have run out of patience, and we have made up our mind. We do not believe in the existence of a true will to reform. You have closed all outlets that lead to reform. By doing so, you have sanctioned for us all the doors of peaceful escalation that will transform the Jordanian street that is already prepared. (Fox 2012)
Jordan has been deeply touched by the Arab uprisings – not because the regime has had to confront a mobilised citizenry demanding its fall, but because of the gradual accumulation of too many crossed red lines to ignore, cutting across many segments of society (Schwedler 2012).
In 2011–12, Jordan experienced its version of the Arab uprisings as the country was rocked by a series of street protests, organised via social media. The passages above illustrate facets of new media armed citizen engagement, broadly defined as hirak movements, versus a monarchy trying to preserve the status quo. The Jordanian opposition includes a weak coalition of contentious forces united in their shared interest in change. On the streets were East Bank Jordanians, youths and Islamists, all of whom have supported the monarchy in the past. The street protests were surprising, because of the broad coalition of activists, and the direct confrontation with the king.
Social media supported resistance in Jordan reflects a public increasingly disappointed by the stagnating economy, unemployment, hyper-inflation and increases in perceived corruption. The immediate triggers to the street protests were economic, including a lifting of fuel subsidies in 2012 (Haddad 2012) necessitated by the country's crippling debt, which had climbed to more than 70% of GDP (IMF 2012). The Jordanian government was so fiscally challenged in 2012 it could not pay public-sector salaries, and the enforced lifting of fuel subsidies resulted in an immediate 50% increase in fuel prices (Al-Khalidi 2012).
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- Digital Resistance in the Middle EastNew Media Activism in Everyday Life, pp. 55 - 85Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2017