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This article analyses the role of local political forces and strategies in Jordan vis-à-vis the global agenda of poverty reduction. It argues that the development of poverty reduction policy, a new field of political intervention in Jordan since the 1990's, signifies the increased relevance of the global concept of poverty alleviation, which aims to target the poorest of the poor, helping them to help themselves. This global concept is being translated into the local political context, where it is articulated within the established Jordanian model of the paternalistic provider state. The emerging forms of social policy reflect the efforts of various groups who aim to have their strategies inscribed into the state's apparatuses, as well as attempts from above to integrate politically relevant groups in symbolic and material terms and control those (socio-)political groups regarded as a potential risk to political stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]