Legacy of a rentier state: Reforming Jordan's water, energy, and telecommunications sectors

This dissertation is concerned with how the state in Jordan undertook economic transformation in the aftermath of a severe economic crisis which marked the end of almost two decades of rentier state behavior. It examines three traditionally state-owned sectors: water, energy, and telecommunication. These major infrastructure sectors, normally referred to as utilities, were among the earliest candidates for 'reforms'. These reforms, which began in the early nineties and continue until today, were mainly influenced by neoliberal economic theory and its celebration of the free market. However, the process of reform has varied significantly from one sector to another as have the sociopolitical relations underlying each of them and the sources of capital involved.;Following from this, this study illustrates that single countries are not single observations. While rentier behavior may share certain common analytical characteristics, it also varies significantly across different political and institutional contexts. The Jordanian case reveals that quite different patterns of rentier behavior exist in each of the sectors in this study. Understanding and explaining these variations has been one of the central analytical tasks of my research.;The case of Jordan reveals a process of economic transformation that is marked on the one hand by a pressing necessity for economic change and on the other hand by the state's dependence on rentier behavior to serve budget security, regime stability, and special interests. Finally, the findings in this dissertation show that neoliberalism is not just a foreign imposition by powerful multilateral agencies on poor developing countries. It also appears as an indigenous form of policy that is used---in Jordan's case---by the state as a new tool for regulation and control. Put simply, the three cases presented in this study show how neoliberal policies never appear in their pure form. Instead, they are shaped to fit the specific contexts in which they are applied and in turn produce conditions that undermine the very basic ideas that underlie neoliberalism.