The Structure of Power and Institutional Discourse in County Education Councils: An Ethnographic Analysis of the Logics of Domination and Exclusion of Participation

Subject Areas : Educational Science

Alireza Saadipour ¹ , Zohreh Shakibaei ^{2 *} , Ali Khalkhali ³

1 - Department of Educational Management, To.C., Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran.
2 - Department of Educational Sciences, To.C., Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran.
3 - Department of Educational Sciences, To.C., Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran

Received: 2025-07-16 Accepted : 2025-08-18 Published : 2025-07-02

Keywords: Institutional ethnography, power structure, ritual discourse, suspended participation, education councils.,

Abstract :

The aim of this study is to ethnographically examine the structure of power and the prevailing institutional discourse in county education councils. This research is based on the assumption that the experience of participation in the councils is not merely a function of legal and procedural structures but is shaped by hidden power relations, dominant institutional language, rituals of speech and silence, and the lived experiences of actors. The study was conducted within a qualitative framework using an interpretive ethnographic method. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and the analysis of official council documents, and were analyzed using a three-stage coding process. Findings revealed that the structure of power in the councils follows a hidden and informal order, in which decisions are made in advance, outside of meetings, reducing participants' roles to mere formal approvers. The dominant discourse in the councils is ritualistic, repetitive, and conservative, suppressing dissent and glorifying silence. Moreover, the lived experience of council members indicates a state of "suspended participation," where institutional presence persists without real impact. These three conceptual clusters—shadow power, ritual discourse, and suspended participation—represent a triangular structure of soft domination and exclusion of participation. The results suggest that reforming the councils requires a rethinking of language, rituals, and the invisible structures of participation, rather than merely changing the composition of members or executive mechanisms.

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