Relying on a combination of ethnographic methods (observations, interviews, and visual documentation), this article explores the everyday life of two coffeehouses in Tabriz through a theoretical lens of third place, counterpublics, and everyday ethics of resistance.

Cross-generational venues

Coffeehouses are currently retaining functions as third places; cross-generational venues for preserving cultural, artistic, and linguistic identity as well as institutions of social defiance, resting on elaborate ethical codes and tacit social agreements. Through mechanisms of everyday ethics and cultural practices re-connecting to local history, cultural creativity, and language, insiders are distinguished from outsiders, serving to build trust, security, and
solidarity in the context of Iranian state monitoring and restricted social space.

Coffeehouses (Re)Appropriated: Counterpublics and Cultural Resistance in Tabriz, Iran.

Photo by Idin Ebrahimi on Unsplash