Through a non-conventional understanding of civil society activism, the article provides an explanation of the relationship between the student movement and Khatami’s governments in Iran. This study approaches ‘civil society’ as a space where we may observe the dynamics and the exercise of power. The case study of the interactions between the Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat and Khatami’s governments illustrates how civil society is not a fixed concept, but a contested one. By analysing the conflicts and interactions between these two actors, the article examines the continuous negotiations that reinvent the meaning of civil society and produce political inclusion or exclusion.