Between staging emotions and avoiding conflict. The logics of decision-making in Tehran’s neighbourhood councils

This paper aims to refine the sociological understanding of what being a “good citizen” means in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Drawing upon an ethnographic study conducted in Tehran’s neighbourhood councils (between 2007 and 2012), this paper identifies what emotions are legitimate (or not), as well as exploring the tensions between emotions that are publicly shared and those that are hidden. This ethnographic analysis of the councillors’ emotional work reveals how the affective norms constrain their everyday activities and structure power relations in these institutions. The councillors’ emotional rationalities appear to be impacted by both political and social processes.