'Authoritarian Neoliberalism' and Youth Empowerment in Jordan. Issue 2 (15th March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: İşleyen, Beste; Kreitmeyr, Nadine
• Is Part Of: Journal of intervention and statebuilding. Volume 15:Issue 2(2021)
• Page Start: 244
• Page End: 263
• Publication Date: 2021-03-15
• Subjects: Authoritarian neoliberalism -- subject formation -- entrepreneurship -- youth empowerment -- elite politics -- Jordan; Intervention (International law) -- Periodicals; Nation-building -- Periodicals; Economic assistance -- Periodicals; Postwar reconstruction -- Periodicals; International cooperation -- Periodicals; 320
• DOI: 10.1080/17502977.2020.1812996
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1750-2977

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article examines youth entrepreneurship in Jordan in the context of the country's neoliberal reforms. Drawing on Foucauldian scholarship on neoliberal governmentality and the literature on authoritarian neoliberalism, we argue that youth empowerment is part of the Jordanian regime's strategy of subject formation along neoliberal lines through the dissemination of market ideas of competitiveness, enterprise society and self-responsibility. The article presents new empirical material that includes interviews conducted in Jordan and Egypt and highlights how the King's two initiatives display a win-win relationship for the regime and the youth alike without necessarily challenging the status.