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Rawls uses two phrases -- he talks about the "initial situation" and he also talks about the "original position." At first I thought they were the same, but now I don't think so.

There are many different "initial situations" in  which we can imagine people making a social contract. Depending on the features of these initial situations, people might make different contracts. The particular initial situation that Rawls thinks is best for choosing the principles of justice he calls the "original position."

Interestingly, however, Rawls acknowledges that other initial situations might lead people to agree on different principles of justice. For example, there might be a version that leads people to agree to utilitarian principles. This has led some utilitarians to claim that the original position Rawls uses is rigged to exclude utilitarianism.