The concept of agency and its nature is a primary focus of subaltern studies. In this article, based on ethnographic research conducted in one of the marginalized areas around Tehran between 2019 and 2022, we try to understand the forms, strategies, and different fields of agency in the struggle of the residents to live in the current situation.. Through engagement with Asef Bayat’s formulation of “quiet encrouchment" and Gayatri Spivak’s key question, "Can the subalterns speak?", we discuss the complexities of the concepts of "progress" and "speech” to shine a light on and explore the relationship of these concepts with power and resistance. Finally, in the findings section, we draw four situations under "Afghan immigrants and withdrawal", "Women with addicted husbands: staying or leaving", "Being a woman: conforming or rebelling" and "Reproduction of family" in which people do not seem to be progressing. Instead, "not backing down from the current situation" seems to be a more appropriate concept to call the struggle of the people of the region; A strategy that does not necessarily lead to resistance against the status quo but sometimes even to its reproduction.