Acknowledgments
This book would not have been completed without the help and support of many people. First and foremost, I am thankful to the research participants, who generously agreed to be part of this project. Their stories and their joys and sufferings have been and remain a source of inspiration for me. Their insights, sense of humor, and trust made this work not only possible but also enjoyable.
Many colleagues and friends helped me think through this project. The research for this book was done during my doctoral studies at Brandeis University. I am thankful to my dissertation committee members, David Cunningham, Laura Miller, Chandler Rosenberger, and Orkideh Behrouzan, for their constructive feedback and intellectual support. My Brandeis friends – Catherine Tan, Alexis Mann, Kimberly Lucas, Sara Chaganti, Margaret and Rachel Minkin, and Alex Vasquez – offered friendship, support, and laughter. Catherine and Alexis provided feedback on some chapters of the book and continued to be my moral support when I was writing the book. I also thank my colleagues at Oberlin College – Gary Lee, who engaged in conversations about the book proposal and Greggor Mattson, who read some of the chapters and offered support and friendship beyond my years at Oberlin.
I wrote most of the book during my postdoctoral fellowship at Rice University. I am thankful to many people and working groups at Rice University. Although the Covid-19 lockdown, which started two months into my arrival, limited in-person interactions during the first year, I benefited from the vibrant atmosphere of the department and the spaces we shared in working groups. I workshopped some chapters of the book in SPACE Co., codirected by Jim Elliott and Elizabeth Roberto, and in the Qualitative Working Group, led by Anna Rhodes. I am also grateful for the opportunity to share my work with other postdocs in the program, especially Kevin Loughran and Dialika Sall, who provided feedback on my book proposal and introduction, and my friend Meredith Zhang, who became a source of encouragement and support during the time that I worked on the final version of the manuscript.
I would like to thank the team at Cambridge University Press who worked hard to make this book materialize. I especially want to thank Maria Marsh, who first took an interest in my project and provided support as I went through different stages of publication. I am thankful to the anonymous readers, who provided constructive feedback and encouragement. Their suggestions and comments made the book a much better version. I also want to thank Allison Van Deventer for editing the book manuscript. I could not have asked for a better editor and I am grateful for her careful reading and detailed comments on the manuscript.
Two generous grants made this research possible: the Mellon Dissertation Year Fellowship, and the Travel Grant from the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University. The latter supported my first research visit to Iran, where I was able to work on and develop my prospectus, and the former allowed me to focus on writing. The Department of Sociology at Rice University also provided some additional financial support for copy editing and indexing of the book.
My interest in Tehran as an academic topic began when I was working on my master’s degree in urban design at the University of Tehran. I am greatly thankful to my mentor and advisor, the late Mohsen Habibi. First in his classes and later through our collaborations, I was able to build a foundation to shift my focus from design to research. I am also thankful to other organizations and people who encouraged research on urban issues, including Andisheh Iranshahr and Khaneh Honarmandan, which connected a network of professionals and urban researchers and initiated important discussions around Tehran’s urban trajectory. The years that I worked at Sharestan and Pardaraz as an architect and urban designer were also critical in shaping my urban vision and solidifying my interests.
My friends in Iran – Mitra, Behzad A., Sahar, Behzad P., Sania, Amir, Afsaneh, and Nima – offered support and friendship when I was doing my fieldwork. Pegah, Rojia, Farideh, and Davood, and especially my friend Amirhossein Khorshidfar, reconnected me to the experience of living in Tehran and generously participated in long conversations about the city, arts and literature, politics and culture. I am grateful to all of them.
Finally, I want to thank my mother, Mary Nalshekan. She is the light of my life and has always been my greatest source of inspiration. Her support was critical to this research, particularly during my fieldwork when I stayed with her in Tehran. I learned from my mother not to give up, to pursue what I love, and to not only dream of a better world but be a part of making a better world. To her, I dedicate this book.
I also dedicate this book to my best friend and husband, Farshid Emami, and to our son, Sepand. As he grows up, Sepand reminds me of the miracle of life and helps me slow down and appreciate the world in ways that as adults we often forget to appreciate. I would not have been able to write this book without Farshid’s support and encouragement. We became good friends when we were young and ambitious. Through traveling, reading, spending time together and with our friends, and pursuing our dreams together, we have survived the perils of this world and we have enjoyed the gift of love and life. And for that, I am grateful.
