“You Reap What You Plant”: Social Networks in the Arab World—The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

SummaryThe aim of this paper is threefold. First, to describe the general evolution of bonding and bridging social capital in Jordan. Second, to explore the role of state policies in affecting the various forms of social capital. Finally, to analyze how poverty and economic reform influence the extent and nature of social capital. Social networks, a crucial element of social capital, and cleavages are strongly affected by political and economic dislocations. The former include wars and civil wars, while the latter include state policies and economic conditions. Thus wasta, an old but still significant form of social capital in the Arab World, becomes helpful in good times but destructive in bad times. Successful economic reform requires a good understanding of the nature of social relations and of the ways in which social networks themselves are used by members during good times and bad times for both survival and advancement.