Dynamic figurations of refugees, migrants, and longtime residents in Jordan since 1946: between peaceable and tension-ridden co-existence?

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Gabriele Rosenthal
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: from 2017 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 321047406

The research questions formulated in our first application for funding were related to changes in the figurations of longtime residents in Jordan and different groupings of refugees (meaning refugees and their descendants), and the maintenance of stability on a practical, everyday level. In contrast to our assumptions, which were based on a review of the relevant literature, an important finding of our research in the field is that the empirically observable differences between the groupings living in Jordan are far greater than we thought, with far more complex and differentiated figurations as a result. In the next phase of our project, we will seek empirical saturation for our conclusions in respect of this complexity, using not only our existing data but also a small amount of carefully planned new data. This new data collection exercise will be mainly devoted to conducting further interviews with people in those groupings within our sample that can be described as outsiders or as marginalized. Our aim is to show how different groupings or we-groups co-exist and where there is conflict potential in the current situation im Greater Amman, with its influx of large numbers of refugees.Our research so far has effectively uncovered the history and current dynamics of the different groupings, together with their we- and they-images. However, we need to extend our analysis with regard to the constitutive factors that determine relations between different groupings and groups.We plan to focus on four specific topics:a) The significance of patronage networks. We believe that these are essential to an understanding of the figurations of groupings and we-groups. b) Different groupings of Palestinians. Our findings concerning these extremely different groupings show that further data is needed in order to analyse the relations between the groupings and between them and longtime residents.c) Precarious milieus vs. middle class milieus. Here we will look at the figurations between longtime residents and refugee groupings, and between different refugee groupings, in the highly precarious milieus of east Amman, and ask how they differ from figurations in Amman’s middle class(es) in respect of the way they are manifested and negotiated. d) Sudanese – a grouping of outsiders who do not come from the Middle East. Here we will consider whether our findings concerning homogenizing we-images based on a common belonging to the Arab Middle East and a common (situative) management of collective belongings can be applied to this grouping or whether they need to be modified.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants