Bearing the Burden: An Ethnographic Account of Women’s Online Entrepreneurship in the Jordanian Political Economy of Development

Abstract

This study evaluates whether and how information and communication technologies (ICTs) help overcome constraints to female labor force participation in Jordan. It yields insights about how women’s ICT-enabled economic participation is shaped by the normative, social, and cultural mechanisms structuring women’s livelihood trajectories in contemporary Jordan. Pursuing ICT-enabled economic participation might allow women the flexibility to work from home on their own terms and schedules, overcoming restrictions to movement and limitations on time due to expectations about their role as homemaker and caregiver. This kind of flexibility may also bode well for improving female labor force participation, although not as much as some proponents may claim. Through multiple qualitative research methods, including in-person interviews, focus groups, participant observation online and in-person of events and venues, this ethnography offers an analysis of how economic, historical, cultural, and religious structures influence women’s experiences and opportunities. The dissertation’s significant findings show that Jordan is an aid-dependent economy primarily led by Western-driven development priorities, obligations, and reform agenda. The structure of donor funding and Jordan’s current aid-dependency has led to a scenario that incentivizes Jordan to go where the donor goes and to follow the whims and current trends in the donor community. Because donor funding drives priorities, Jordan is currently prioritizing women’s entrepreneurship initiatives for economic development and women’s empowerment, including home-based online entrepreneurship and other forms of ICT-enabled work. This study found that many Jordanian women are interested in pursuing ICT-enabled work given numerous constraints to their participation outside of the home but that technology and entrepreneurship is not a one-size-fits-all solution to women’s economic participation. It also shows that while efforts to promote women’s online entrepreneurship have brought some empowerment outcomes for Jordanian women, they have instrumentalized women in the pursuit of economic development and led to the feminization of responsibility and obligation.