Municipalities Go to Market: Economic Reform and Political Contestation in Jordan

Using the case of international donors' municipal strengthening and poverty alleviation projects in Jordanian municipalities, this article traces how local elites adapt to and adapt neo-liberal reforms to local dynamics and agendas. It demonstrates how economic reforms at the municipal level are not driving forces in and of themselves, but are subordinated to established patterns of political contestation among local actors who seize on the opportunities that reforms offer to advance their political agendas. The article is based on interviews gathered in 2010 and 2012.