Honors Theses
Date of Award
2014
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
History
First Advisor
Vivian Ibrahim
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
While Jordanian women can be a ministers, congresswomen, Parliament representatives, ambassador, doctor, or lawyers, and the literacy rate for females is more than 92 percent, women are still not treated as full citizens. In 2012, Jordanian women, as most of the women in the Arab world, started publicly demanding their right to grant citizenship to their children from foreign fathers. The movement started with voice of those mothers during the Arab spring, but as of 2014 the government still resists providing equality to women. Interviews of more than a hundred people who either support, oppose, or are sympathetic to the women's rights in this case provide the full argument on the woman's right to grant citizenship in one paper for the first time. Namah Habashnah, the founder of the first campaign for my mother is Jordanian and her citizenship is my right continues her battle to grant equality. The Opposition considers the women's demand as a threat to the nation's security and sovereignty, claiming that any change in the Nationality law will allow refugees in Jordan to obtain citizenship. The Supporters with reservation agree with the opposition's concerns, but they believe that these children and their mothers need solutions to live in Jordan without being treated merely as residents. The opposition and the supporters with reservations would be right if they also argued that the Jordanian father should not be allowed to grant citizenship to his foreign wife and children, if the attraction of non-Jordanians would threaten the nation security and sovereignty. In addition, the Opposition's primary claim is a straw-man argument, because women's movement is not demanding citizenship for non-Jordanian or refugees in Jordan but rather demanding equality for women in the particular case of Jordanian citizens granting citizenship to non-Jordanian spouses and their children. The conclusion based on this research is that the Opposition, rather than basing their arguments on national security or sovereignty, is fighting to keep the traditional patriarchal social structure, and make any female's accomplishment just a privilege, not a right.
Recommended Citation
Naimat-Brennan, Saadiah, "Public Arguments Concerning Women's Citizenship Rights in Jordan" (2014). Honors Theses. 812.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/812
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