Jordanian Women’s Quest for Social Justice

Authors

  • Hind Al-Braizat Ministry of Education—Jordan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55016/ojs/ajer.v70i2.75114

Keywords:

culture, social change, social justice, patriarchy, violence; culture, changement social, justice sociale, patriarcat, violence

Abstract

This research paper aims to analyze the perspectives of a selection of Jordanian women between the ages of 20 and 50 on social justice and explore if ingrained gender discrimination prevents women from attaining equality in Jordan. It tries to pinpoint the factors that hinder or motivate women to pursue social justice in Jordan while identifying their views on the existing opportunities and barriers to achieving social justice. Results reveal that the profoundly ingrained dynamics of the Jordanian social structure—culture, socialization, and gender discrimination—play an integral part in preventing women from attaining social justice in Jordan. Moreover, the results show that collaboration between women and their political representatives in society is a must for fostering social justice in Jordan; it is not enough to rely only on providing a good education for women.

Ce document de recherche vise à analyser les perspectives d'une sélection de femmes jordaniennes âgées de 20 à 50 ans sur la justice sociale et à explorer si la discrimination sexuelle enracinée empêche les femmes d'atteindre l'égalité en Jordanie. Il tente de mettre en évidence les facteurs qui empêchent ou motivent les femmes à poursuivre la justice sociale en Jordanie tout en identifiant leurs points de vue sur les opportunités et les barrières existantes pour atteindre la justice sociale. Les résultats révèlent que les dynamiques profondément ancrées dans la structure sociale jordanienne - la culture, la socialisation et la discrimination sexuelle - jouent un rôle essentiel pour empêcher les femmes d'atteindre la justice sociale en Jordanie. En outre, les résultats montrent que la collaboration entre les femmes et leurs représentants politiques dans la société est indispensable pour promouvoir la justice sociale en Jordanie ; il n'est pas suffisant de se contenter de fournir une bonne éducation aux femmes.

Author Biography

Hind Al-Braizat, Ministry of Education—Jordan

Hind Mufleh Al-Braizat, Ministry of Education—The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Jordan), holds a PhD in Sociology and a Masters Degree in Women’s Studies. Interest in Social and behavioral change, cultural diversity, justice, equality, and human rights. Besides working as an employee in the Ministry of Education, she is also a certified trainer in human development and other topics.

References

Abdul Aziz, Z., & Moussa, J. (2015). The due diligence principle and the role of the state: Discrimination against women in family and cultural life. Due Diligence Project. https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/Family/Written_Submissions/DDP_Submission_UNWG_Discr_ag_Women_Family_Cultural_Life15.pdf

Abu Hamdan, M. (2014). Activating the role of Syrian Arab women in the process of comprehensive development. Damascus University Journal, 30(1-2), 313–348.

Al-Braizat, H. (2017). The role of socialization in the formation of consciousness among the Jordanian women: Social study on a sample of rural women/case study—Theban Region. Human and Social Science Journal, 44(1), 65–80.

Al-Hourani, A. (2012). The clan social capital: A sociological study of the components of tribal loyalty and transformations in the Jordanian society. Jordan Journal of Social Sciences, 5(2), 172–201. https://archives.ju.edu.jo/index.php/jjss/index

Al-Khatib, M. (2020). Facilitating female employment in Jordan. UNESCO-UNEVOC. https://unevoc.unesco.org/yem/Female+unemployment+in+Jordan+YEM+Blog&context=

Al-Maaitah, R., Oweis, A., Olimat, H., Altarawneh, I., & Al Maaita, H. (2012). Barriers hindering Jordanian women’s advancement to higher political and leadership positions. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 13(5), Article 10, 101–122. http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol13/iss5/10

Al-Othman, H. (2011), Obstacles to Jordanian women’s political participation: A sociological perspective. The Jordanian National Commission for Women. www.women.jo

Al-Sharari, S., & AlKhatib, S. (2015). The legal framework and women status in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Canadian Center of Science and Education, 11(5), 208–218. https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v11n5p208

Alkafawin, M. (2018). The relationship between social work and social justice in Jordan: Social workers' perspective. Mutah University Journals, 33(5), 187–218.

Alsawalqa, A. (2016). Social change and values conflict of the educated women in the Jordanian Society: A comparative study. Human and Social Sciences Journal, 43(5), 2076–2093.

Arab Institution for Human Rights. (1996). Arab women’s legal and social status (field studies in eight Arab countries with authoritative studies).

Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development. (2017). Justices’ needs and satisfaction in Jordan. Hague Institute for Innovation of Law. https://ardd-jo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Justice-Needs-and-Satisfaction-in-Jordan-2017-EN.pdf

Arar, K. (2018). Arab women’s educational leadership and the implementation of social justice in schools. Journal of Educational Administration, 56(1), 18–32. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-10-2016-0131

Babbie, E. R. (2011). The basics of social research. Wadsworth Thomson Learning.

Ballenger, J. (2010). Women’s access to higher education leadership: Cultural and structural barriers. The Forum on Public Policy Online, 2010(5), 1–20. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ913023.pdf

Brumann, C. (1999). Writing for culture: Why a successful concept should not be discarded. Current Anthropology, 40(S1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1086/200058

Carter, M. J. (2014). Gender socialization and identity theory. Social Sciences Journal, 3(2), 242–263. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci3020242

Colquitt, J. A. (2001). On the dimensionality of organizational justice: A construct validation of a measure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 386–400. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.86.3.386

Dababneh, A. B. (2012). Jordanian women’s political participation: Legislative status and structural challenges. European Journal of Social Sciences, 27(2), 213–221. https://www.europeanjournalofsocialsciences.com

de Lucca-Silveira, M. P. (2016). The subject of social justice: A defense of the basic structure of society. Brazilian Political Science Review, 10(2), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1590/1981-38212016000200006

Department of Statistics, Jordan. (2018). Education. http://dosweb.dos.gov.jo/DataBank/JordanInFigures/2018.pdf

Essaid, A., Sajdi, J. & Abu Taleb, H. (2019). Gender Discrimination in Jordan. UN Women. https://jordan.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2019/irckhf#view

Gharaibeh, M., & Al-Ma'aitah, R. (2002). The cultural meaning of violence against women: Jordanian women’s perspective. Guidance and Counseling, 18(1), 2–9.

Hage, S., Ring, E. E., & Lantz, M. M. (2011). Social justice theory. In R. J. R. Levesque (Ed.), Encyclopedia of adolescence (pp. 2794–2801). Springer.

Hernández-Truyol, B. E. (2017) The culture of gender/the gender of culture: Cuban women, culture, and change—The island and the diaspora, Florida Journal of International Law, 29(1), Article 17, 181–196. https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/fjil/vol29/iss1/17

Johnstone, N. (2015). Tribal dispute resolution and women’s access to justice in Jordan. West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute http://wanainstitute.org/sites/default/files/publications/Tribal%20Dispute%20Resolution%20and%20Women%E2%80%99s%20Access%20to%20Justice%20in%20Jordan.pdf

Kaasolu, S., O’Brien, T., Hausmann, R., & Santos, M. (2019). Female labor in Jordan: A systematic approach to the exclusion puzzle. Social Science Research Network. CID Faculty Working Paper No. 365. Center for International Development at Harvard University. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3808864

Karmel, E. J., al-Batran, A., & Hussainy, M. (2014). Social justice in Jordan: Laying a foundation for social justice discussions in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Identity Center for Human Development. https://haqqi.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/2014-12/HRIDJR0224_SocialJusticeJordan_En_2.pdf

Knox, S., & Burkard, A. W. (2009). Qualitative research interviews. Psychotherapy Research, 19(4-5), 566–575. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503300802702105

Labyad, S. (2003). Enterprise culture and globalization impact on the Maghreb. The Tunisian example. Insaniyat, 22, 39–63. https://doi.org/10.4000/insaniyat.7060

Millett, K. (2000). Sexual politics. University of Illinois Press.

Murrell, A. & James, E.. (2001). Gender and Diversity in Organizations: Past, Present, and Future Directions. Sex Roles, 45. 243–257. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014393312588

Naffa’a, I. (2010). The Jordanian women: Political participation and decision making. Maktabat MEPI Library. US Department of State.http://maktabatmepi.org/en/resources/jordanian-women-political-participation-and-decision-making

Nasarat, M. Abu-Zaiton, N., Abu-Tayeh, A., & Aljazi, A. (2016). Jordanian citizens’ trends towards women’s social, economic and political rights in (Karak, Tafieleh and Maan) Governorates (A field study 2016). International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 7(4), 65–91. https://www.ijhssnet.com

National Council for Family Affairs. (2008). Status of violence against women in Jordan, https://haqqi.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/2017-05/HRIDJR618_En_2008.pdf

Nouadrya, K., & Zadam, S. (2017). Popular heritage: Concept and sections. Milev Journal of Research and Studies, 3(1), 861-872. https://doi.org/10.58205/mjrs.v3i1.927

Ntseane, G. P. (2000). A Botswana rural women’s transition to urban small business success: Collective struggles, collective learning. Adult Education Research Conference. https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2000/papers/64

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2014). Women in public life: Gender, law, and policy in the Middle East and North Africa. OECD Publishing, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264224636-en.

Pathak, A., & Intratat, C. (2012). Use of semi-structured interviews to investigate teacher perceptions of student collaboration. Malaysian Journal of ELT Research, 8(1), 1–10. https://meltajournals.com/index.php/majer/article/view/618

Pence, E. (2012). Foreward. Violence Against Women, 18(9), 1000–1003. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801212460752

Pettygrove, M. (2006). Obstacles to women’s political empowerment in Jordan: Family, Islam, and patriarchal gender roles. [Independent Study Project, School for International Training] Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 358. https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/358

Reid, C. (2004). Advancing women’s social justice agendas: A feminist action research framework. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 3(3), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690400300301

Reisch, M. (2002). Defining social justice in a socially unjust world. Families in society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 83(4), 343–354. https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.17

Singh, R. (2014). Status of women in today’s society. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention, 3(2), 59–62. https://www.ijhssi.org/

Soares, A. M., Farhangmehr, M., & Shoham, A. (2007). Hofstede's dimensions of culture in international marketing studies. Journal of Business Research, 60(3), 277–284. https://doi.org /10.1016/j.jbusres.2006.10.018

Soken-Huberty, E. (2022, August 7). What does social justice mean? Human Rights Careers. https://www.humanrightscareers.com/issues/what-does-social-justice-mean/

Towns, A. (2009). The status of women as a standard of ‘civilization.’ European Journal of International Relations, 15(4), 681–706. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354066109345053

Zubaidi, F. R., Al-Sammerai, N. S., & Ahmad, F. (2011). An overview on women's leadership issues in Jordan. Journal of Politics and Law, 4(2), 67–73. https://doi.org/10.5539/jpl.v4n2p67

Published

2024-07-30

How to Cite

Al-Braizat, H. (2024). Jordanian Women’s Quest for Social Justice. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 70(2), 182–200. https://doi.org/10.55016/ojs/ajer.v70i2.75114

Issue

Section

ARTICLES