Heritage, modernity and the Muhajirin in Amman
Decolonising urban knowledge in Ras-Al-Ein
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5701115 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Shatha Abu-Khafajah (0000-0001-8118-673X, Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 115-130 |
| Publication date | 2024-01-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Heritage Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1352-7258 • E-ISSN: 1470-3610 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13527258.2023.2277782 |
| OpenAlex | W4388303402 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 46 |
Authoritative urban knowledge (AUK) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is a neocolonial construct firmly rooted in oriental imaginaries and colonial/modern urbanism. It informs the managerial epistemology of neoliberal ‘development’ projects, where urban studies are confined to diagnostic analysis and optimistic calls for local inclusion to counteract state authority and foreign hegemony. This study critically examines the epistemic production of urban spaces at the nexus of heritage, modernity, and migration in the MENA, anchoring the criticism in a case study of urban development in Ras-Al-Ein – also known as the Muhajirin (refugees) neighbourhood – in the historic core of Amman. It then couples ethnographic interviews conducted with the residents of Ras-Al-Ein with decolonial thinking to explore local engagement with urban space as ‘subjugated knowledge’, and to contest the persistence of the AUK. It validates this engagement as local urban knowledge (LUK) and capitalises on the self-critique, irony and resistance depicted in Ras-Al-Ein to argue for a decolonial approach to urban knowledge. It argues that LUK can shift the debate in urban studies from practice analysis to an ethnographic theorisation of urban knowledge. This theorisation is crucial for challenging adverse perceptions of peoples and places and informing development with prudent knowledge
Epistemology · Geography · Hegemony · Modernity · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Urbanism · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Urban and Rural Development Challenges · Urban Planning and Governance
New Approaches to the "Non-Western" City
Development Beyond Neoliberalism?
Ethnographic Interviewing
Planning and Unplanning Amman
Planning Middle Eastern Cities
Public urban space
Circulating planning ideas from the metropole to the colonies
The Evolving Arab City
Consuming Tradition, Manufacturing Heritage
Local Histories/Global Designs
Colonial Philosophies, Urban Space, and Racial Segregation in British and French Colonial Africa
In Search of a Decolonial Urban Transformation
A ‘Crisis of Identity’? Palestinian Christian contributions to Amman’s modern urbanity
Mundane activism as a mode of urban repair
Economism and critical silences in development studies
Urban Imaginaries
Circassian Refugees and the Making of Amman, 1878–1914
Islamic city, Arab city
Brief History of Neoliberalism
The Social Implications of Population Displacement and Resettlement
Tunnel-bypasses and minarets of capitalism
Toilets first, temples second
Epistemic Disobedience, Independent Thought and Decolonial Freedom
On the Coloniality of Being
Tale of Two Cities
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |