Sociological Cultural Studies

Sociological Cultural Studies

Everyday Life as a Moment for Becoming and Redefining the Subject

Document Type : .

Authors
Ehsan Mozdkhah 1
Mehdi Najafzadeh 2
Seeyd Hossien Athari 2
Morteza Manshdi 2
1 Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
10.30465/scs.2025.51287.2980
Abstract
Introduction
The political philosophy of everyday life in the era of post-structuralism is composed of two distinct moments: the everyday moment and the moment of explosion. The temporality, rhythm, and dynamics of these two moments differ significantly. In everyday life, individuals employ "ordinary" tactics to navigate and resist the power imposed upon them. However, this same everyday life occasionally condenses and intensifies into rare, explosive moments. The moment of explosion is fundamentally distinct from the moments that precede it, as it concentrates crowds, emotions, and energies. Yet, it is deeply rooted in all the prior moments where women and youth, through various forms of resistance in their daily lives, have sought transformation and challenged political structures. This desire is made possible through language and intersubjectivity—a desire that lacked such capacity and force in the pre-modern traditional world, where it primarily served the established order. In the moment of explosion, the political realm is momentarily overtaken by the desires and aspirations of everyday life. During this moment, people are no longer satisfied with the small victories of everyday resistance. They no longer merely seek to operate within the established system or advance their own agendas. Instead, they yearn for a moment of foundation—a moment where the social, living, embodiment, and, in a word, society are defined not through political discourse, but through the narratives and stories of the people themselves.
Materials& Methods
This research is theoretical and employs a library-based method for data collection. The data in this study are gathered and analyzed using a descriptive-analytical approach. The research examines the political philosophy of everyday life through a post-structuralist lens and, in parallel, analyzes the transformations that occur within the realm of everyday life. Such a study will be valuable for understanding the social dimension of the political philosophy of everyday life.

Discussion& Results
Everyday life, through a post-structuralist lens, enables the emergence of a new form of emotions—emotions that are distinct from those of the past. In the temporality of everyday life, emotions are the same as those that flow through ordinary existence. However, in the post-structuralist era and the moment of pluralism, hierarchical structures no longer hold their former value. Instead, it is the circles of friendship that come to define life. These "circles of friendship" might include groups of coworkers, gatherings of retirees, members of a sports club or artistic collective, circles of friends, neighbors, student groups, women’s networks, and so on. These circles of friendship, formed within various social networks and flowing through everyday life, can, in a single moment, coalesce into a unified explosive body—the moment of explosion. In such a moment, subjects, through their interactions with one another and with the social world, create shared meanings. These interactions can occur through language, the body, or social behaviors, serving as common tools that lay the groundwork for the creation of collective identities and resistance against dominant discourses. Within this framework, the body and embodiment play a particularly significant role as instruments of resistance and social change. The body, as a site for the representation of power and identity, can act as a tool for resisting existing orders, and this, in turn, can lead to the creation of new meanings in social life.
Conclusion
Everyday life is not merely a series of repetitive and superficial events; rather, it is an eventful field in which the "world" is continuously shaped and manifested. This world, in which the subject is situated, is a meaningful space that is constantly "projected" from two directions: on one hand, from within the subject’s mind, which assigns specific meanings to the world based on individual experiences and personal history, and on the other hand, from outside the subject, where social, cultural, political, and historical conditions continuously impose their own meanings on the world. In essence, everyday life is perpetually caught in the tension between these two forces: the events of the world, which operate as external and independent phenomena, and the projections of the subject, which frame these events within specific forms and meanings.
In analyzing "everyday life as an intersubjective phenomenon," the complex and reciprocal relationship between the subject and the world is brought into focus. This approach not only considers the subjective and individual complexities of the subject but also, more precisely, emphasizes the social and cultural conditions in which the subject exists. In this process, the subject is not seen as an isolated and independent entity detached from the world but rather as an active agent deeply engaged with the conditions and possibilities of their environment. Here, the subject simultaneously influences the world and is influenced by it. Everyday life, as an intersubjective realm, is a space where subjects are constantly interacting with other subjects and with social and cultural structures. These interactions, which occur at various levels—such as language, social actions, and cultural relations—ensure that realities and meanings in everyday life are continuously created and recreated
Keywords
post-structuralism
Everyday Life
the Social
Subject Transformation
the Eventfulness of the World
Subjects
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Sociological Cultural Studies
Volume 17, Issue 2 - Serial Number 60
Summer 2026
Spring 2026
Pages 475-505

  • Receive Date 19 February 2025
  • Revise Date 13 March 2025
  • Accept Date 14 March 2025
  • Publish Date 23 August 2026