- Title
- The water crisis in Jordan: a Habermasian analysis of how power and interests guide policy towards colonization and unsustainable water management
- Creator
- Shamayleh, Majd Adel
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2019
- Description
- Professional Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Jordan faces a deepening water crisis, exacerbated by climate change, regional conflict,immigration, and poor governance. This thesis applies the critical theory of Jürgen Habermas to analyse the Jordanian water sector to understand the role of influential interests that hold the power to divert policies that would otherwise maintain the status quo to provide these same interests with access to extra funds, employment and water, regardless of the detrimental impact on the rest of Jordanian society and the natural environment. The water crisis in Jordan is linked to a complexity of political power dynamics. The historical position of the Jordanian monarchy has created an elite and tribal reciprocal power base that protects the monarchical system despite the loss, for citizens, of their basic democratic and human rights. To prevent dissent from the population of Jordan, the king and the government support a system that ensures stability and the outflow of a bare minimum of resources to keep society calm regarding water resources. The government and monarchy achieve a concordance with the public by articulating the symbolic claims that dominate the water discourse in Jordan and by maintaining the flow of international aid. While the water crisis in Jordan has caught the attention of international researchers, the focus of these publications is typically on physical solutions in relation to mega projects and water resource augmentation policies. Jordanian water policy research does not address the critical evaluation of the claims, the type of interests informing action and policy and what leads to their dominance or prevalence. This research contributes to the literature by critically analysing the water sector according to the critical theory of Jürgen Habermas, to link interests, power structures, discourse, governance, law, and democracy to policies for the Jordanian water sector. When applied to the situation in Jordan, Habermas’ framework suggests that the water crisis is the result of the weakness in governance, policy, law, and democracy attributed to the power base of influential interest. This thesis has employed the beginnings of Habermas’ work that focuses on interests and then links this early theory to his later work on Juridification and law. Conceptualising public policy in this way gives a deep understanding of the root problems and their linkages to other phenomena, which become possible when the focus of investigation is extended beyond basic principles and formal aspects of communication and action. This dissertation highlights the power of influential interests that have dominated the decision making process and water discourse in Jordan by excluding other eligible claims that can counter this power and elevate their own interests, mainly due to defects both in accountability mechanisms and in the rule of law. Although international donors mobilise the steering mechanism of money to intervene in the discourse on water policy, their claims to validity are typically unable to overturn the official claims established within this discourse. From a Habermasian perspective it can be considered that it is the imperatives of power and money guided, by technical interests free of lifeworld concerns, which are able to colonize the lifeworld, thus resulting in the water crisis in Jordan. As a solution, Habermas would advocate building a strong public sphere that is able to deliberate, communicate its reality, and further an emancipatory interest that empowers society to redirect the power to its own advantage under a rule of law. Habermas’ work is beneficial in public policy not only for the critical evaluation, but it also holds a practical intent for a legitimate democratic way of solving environmental problems and formulating proposals by structuring processes that include expert analysis and deliberation by stakeholders and citizens in the production of legitimate practical policy inclusive of all interests.
- Subject
- sustainability; accountability; sustainable water management; governance; Habermas
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1404471
- Identifier
- uon:35347
- Rights
- Copyright 2019 Majd Adel Shamayleh
- Language
- eng
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 4 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 199 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |