Iranians say that the Tehran Bazaar is the “pulse of the city” or “the pulse of the economy.” The metaphor is appropriate, for it evokes a sense that the circulation of commodities, credit, and information in the Bazaar's networks is a palpable effect of the workings of Iran's urban life and political economy. By documenting the interaction between the two recent regimes and the Bazaar, as well as tracing the process through which state–society relations have been redesigned and renegotiated since the 1979 revolution, this study extends this metaphor by arguing that the Bazaar is an apt gauge of how state-level policies dialogue with organizational-level politics. It is an initial foray into mapping how visions of development set the parameters for the networks within this group, and consequently their ability to turn their grievances into collective claims against the state.

In order to create a coherent and analytically compelling narrative it is necessary to recast a conception of the Bazaar, treating its organization and solidarity as a conundrum.