This article investigates contentious politics in authoritarian contexts by looking at the case- study of student activism in the Islamic Republic of Iran. More specifically, the article asks ‘how does the Iranian student movement “do” contentious politics?’, and argues that a broader approach is needed when examining social movements and mobilizations in authoritarian countries, than one focused on visible mo- bilizations. In particular, interpersonal relationships, local histories of activism, and what happens ‘in-be- tween’ episodes of contention should be valued as material carrying analytical gravity. Adopting this ap- proach, the article looks at the continuities and ruptures that have characterized on campus political con- tention in Iran in the 2000s and 2010s, bringing to the fore the overlooked history of how the student move- ments have re-organized after major waves of state repression.