A ‘Crisis of Identity’? Palestinian Christian contributions to Amman’s modern urbanity

Abstract

Amman, 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.