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Georgetown University

Publication Date

Spring 2022

Program Name

Jordan: Geopolitics, International Relations, and the Future of the Middle East

Abstract

This research study focuses on the intersections of generational trauma, community-building, and creative resistance to observe the impacts of intergenerational trauma on social-political processes, including the role of community spaces and creativity in building social movements in Amman, Jordan. Understanding the implications of generational trauma can help bring an understanding of its prevalence, what populations need to thrive in the face of generational trauma, organizing successful social movements, and the political implications of generational trauma in Jordanian society. By conducting interviews with local Palestinian families, psychologists, activists, community leaders, and creatives, the research study found that generational trauma plays a significant role in both motivating the need for political change and political action as a form of productive trauma release, yet feelings of fear, lack of resources, lowered resilience, community breakdown, mental/ physical health issues, and lowered communication skills as a result of the trauma pose as barriers to individual fulfillment, community organization, and resulting successful social-political change. Community and creative spaces can serve as places of open discussion, networks of care, resiliency, expression, self-preservation and solidarity for social change to combat the forces of generational trauma and advocate for the community’s demands.

Disciplines

Civic and Community Engagement | Family, Life Course, and Society | Near and Middle Eastern Studies | Psychology | Social and Cultural Anthropology | Social Psychology and Interaction

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