Moral Conformism and Its Contents

This chapter discusses the implications of facework for elucidating the relationship between morality and social mobility in the face of hardship. By imparting incremental social and economic wins, facework provides a low-cost though potentially high-impact tactic for disadvantaged youth to improve their lot in life in contemporary Iran. Simultaneously, in playing the game day in and day out, youth come to embody the moral dispositions endorsed by the game. In internalizing and abiding by an ethical code that derives from cultural norms and traditions, face-savers practice the moral prescriptions encouraged by the state. Simultaneously, in following the rules, face-savers are able to pursue their dreams and better their lives—a process indicative of their agency and their articulation of a space of influence within the hegemony of the state. While it remains unclear how far the game can take a person, what is certain is that facework reveals a new arena for citizen engagement in Iran.

Introduction

The introduction lays the groundwork for the arguments made in the rest of the book. It maps out how, contrary to popular assumptions, some marginalized youth in Iran—termed the face-savers—are not a “generation in wait” prone to oppositional practices, but active agents who conform to social norms in an effort to change their lot in life. Through the repeated, daily practice of saving face, these youth increase public perceptions of their moral worth, which can subsequently lead them to gain incremental mobility within poverty. A historical overview of the interplay between state policies and struggles from below to make the most of life’s circumstances provides additional contextual detail of how the poor’s aspirations for the good life have been shaped by the perceived structures of constraints and opportunities that surround them. The introduction further provides a brief social history of the primary field site, Sari, Mazandaran, and incorporates details of the methodology of the study.

Dress for Success

This chapter examines the physical dimension of facework. As the risk of losing face hinges primarily on being exposed as poor, youth manipulate their mannerisms and appearance to present a middle-class front to others. Fashionable tweaks to their appearance project kelas(class) and a certain cultural know-how that can subsequently help face-savers extend their personal networks to encompass the type of people who can facilitate their entrée into the world of the well-heeled. The imperative to appear classy and knowledgeable of global fashions finds precedence in Iran’s historical preoccupation with modern fashions and is cultivated in the present day through mediums including billboards, officially sanctioned cultural productions, and new media technologies. Face-savers’ bodily capital is used not only by community members to decide which youth are most worthy of incentives, but also by face-savers to provide justification for their own sense of moral worth. Internalization of the gaze thus creates symbolic boundaries between youth that reproduce cycles of micro-stratification within communities.

Saving Face

This chapter examines the history and structure of face (aberu) and facework in Iran. Upon analyzing the interlinkages between saving face and cultural norms of modesty, the chapter argues that face-savers uphold a moral code comprised of four rules—hard work, self-sufficiency, appearance, and purity—that mitigate threats to their face. These rules serve as moral evaluative distinctions by which both face-savers and members of their community judge others’ moral worth. This process leads to a system of micro-stratification within low-income communities, whereby those who have accumulated moral capital by mimicking middle-class values hold a higher status than those who have not. By exchanging their moral capital for social and economic benefits, face-savers come to gain social mobility within poverty. Agency thus lies in the process of ritual compliance to the social order. The chapter further discusses how face-savers’ aspirations for middle-class lifestyles not only reflect the embourgeoisement of Iranian society beyond the middle and upper classes, but also the state’s own developmental initiatives.

All in a Day’s Work

This chapter examines the moral norms surrounding hard work and self-sufficiency. It discusses how work, particularly in the informal economy, is a means for some face-savers to become incrementally mobile and exercise agency. For young men, evidence of self-sufficiency and work ethic is key for proving their self-worth and masculinity to others. This push to be seen as “responsible enough” or “man enough,” in turn, stipulates the prioritization of jobs that pay relatively well over the status of the job. For young women, too, work is a means by which they can avert threats to their reputations and signal to others that they are doing well for themselves. Those young men and women who can demonstrate that they are self-sufficient hard workers are often the first to be incentivized by others. However, as such support is often limited, those youth who have certain preexisting qualities or resources—street smarts, family support, and risk-taking abilities—are able to climb the ladder much more easily than their counterparts who are not blessed with similar strengths and backgrounds.

Be Good, Do Good

This chapter discusses the rise of public moral discourses surrounding the proper Islamic citizen. It describes how the Iranian cultural sphere has been defined and redefined to produce an image of the model young Muslim. It shows how these discourses have been co-opted by face-savers and their communities to give rise to prescriptions about what constitutes morally pure behavior. Since communities perceive such behavior as a manifestation of one’s inner virtuosity, families discipline face-savers to be hyper-vigilant in their conduct. Face-savers, too, are hyper-cautious in embodying certain moral practices and in working to hide any deviations from the norm. Primarily manifested through their sexual cleanliness, (non)use of substances, and fraternization with the “right” people, these public practices enable face-savers to differentiate themselves from morally impure others, gaining jobs and access to influential others in the process.