The present study aimed to explain the process of divorce commodification in Tabriz, Iran, using a grounded theory approach. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 17 participants and analyzed until theoretical saturation was achieved. During the analysis, “the market of rupture” emerged as the core category, referring to the formation of market-oriented relationships and services surrounding the experience of divorce and its emotional and social consequences. The findings showed that, through interaction with institutional, cultural, and economic factors, divorce has moved beyond being merely a legal and emotional event and has developed into a multilayered process increasingly dependent on professional and commercial services. Categories including legalization, bureaucratization of divorce, emotionalization, self-marketization, consumerist living, suffering management, inequality, marital bond erosion, and meaning deprivation constitute different dimensions of this process. Interrelated, these categories expand the logic of exchange within the experience of divorce and create conditions in which emotions, identity, and suffering become incorporated into commodification processes. Consequently, the boundary between private life and economic mechanisms has become increasingly blurred, while the role of intermediaries and service providers in divorce has expanded. Overall, the findings indicate that the commodification of divorce is a structural and multilevel process emerging from the intersection of formal institutions, economic mechanisms, and individuals’ everyday practices. From this perspective, the concept of “the market of rupture” offers an analytical framework for understanding these transformations and explaining how market logic increasingly penetrates the experience of divorce, reshaping its emotional, social, institutional, and economic dimensions within contemporary urban life.
Abbaszadeh, M. & Ranjegar Ghalehkandi, B. (2026). Divorce as a Commodity: From Emotional Struggles to the Cold Marketplace of Transactions. (e11923). Social Problems of Iran, (), e11923 https://doi.org/10.22034/jspi.2026.137518.0
MLA
Abbaszadeh, M., & Ranjegar Ghalehkandi, B. "Divorce as a Commodity: From Emotional Struggles to the Cold Marketplace of Transactions" .e11923 , Social Problems of Iran, , 2026, e11923. doi: 10.22034/jspi.2026.137518.0
HARVARD
Abbaszadeh, M., & Ranjegar Ghalehkandi, B. (2026). 'Divorce as a Commodity: From Emotional Struggles to the Cold Marketplace of Transactions', Social Problems of Iran, (), e11923. doi: 10.22034/jspi.2026.137518.0
CHICAGO
Abbaszadeh, M. & Ranjegar Ghalehkandi, B., "Divorce as a Commodity: From Emotional Struggles to the Cold Marketplace of Transactions." Social Problems of Iran, (2026): e11923, doi: 10.22034/jspi.2026.137518.0
VANCOUVER
Abbaszadeh M., Ranjegar Ghalehkandi B. Divorce as a Commodity: From Emotional Struggles to the Cold Marketplace of Transactions. Soc. Probl. Iran. 2026;():e11923 (In Persian). doi: 10.22034/jspi.2026.137518.0