The academic world, like other social worlds, is shaped by both argumentative and affective relations and therefore cannot be regarded as separate from the broader social sphere. Over recent decades, scholars have sought to distinguish these domains through specialized concepts, among which the notion of the scientific community has occupied a central position. Studies conducted in Iran suggest that the scientific community is not only a fragile and unstable formation but has also increasingly lost its explanatory capacity within academic life.

This article argues that, based on existing research, a scientific community has not, in practice, taken shape in Iran. Nevertheless, rather than reconsidering their understanding of the existing situation, researchers have largely focused on explaining the weakness of the scientific community and, in many cases, have implicitly justified the status quo. By revisiting the concept of the scientific community in sociological scholarship, this article proposes an alternative framework for understanding academic life and addresses a question that has often been overlooked.

Specifically, it asks whether the concept of academic tribes may provide a more effective analytical perspective once the absence of a scientific community is acknowledged. The article argues that this concept offers a different approach to understanding university life by focusing on mechanisms through which visible and hidden relations operate. While the scientific community framework emphasizes norms, ethics, and formal academic interactions, academic tribes draw attention to emotions, interests, and desires functioning beneath ostensibly scientific norms.