Youth and Education in the Middle East ─ Shaping Identity and Politics in Jordan

The uprisings that were seen throughout the Middle East during 2010 and 2011, make it difficult to over-state the role of educated youth in the region’s politics. Daniele Cantini combines an analysis of young people in Jordan, of its relevance and of its perceived crisis, with one which looks at education and the pursuit of knowledge. He thereby highlights the unprecedented rise in youth population and the growth in institutions of higher learning as a way to explore and explain the challenges Arab-majority societies are currently facing. It proposes an understanding of the university as an institution integral to the survival of the regime, discusses its fragile reforms, and crucial in the formation of young people’s social and political identities. Youth and Education in the Middle East, offers vital first-hand accounts of the role of educational institutions and the impact they have in shaping transnational and local constituencies as well as in the micropolitics of everyday life.

Daniele Cantini is Senior Research Fellow at the Graduate School for Society and Culture in Motion at the University of Halle, Wittenberg. He holds a PhD in Anthropology and History from the Department of Cultural and Language Sciences at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy.