Introduction: The paradoxes of marginality

Abstract

The main focus of this special issue is on marginality, a multifaceted concept that requires a cross-disciplinary approach. The papers selected here deal with marginality in the formation of the epistemic canon (the mainstream) and the production of knowledge in the humanities and social sciences. By employing the vocabulary of marginality (marginal, margins, luminal, threshold, as well as dichotomies such as minor-major, center-periphery), we propose a shift from a discussion of the canon in terms of just one category of marginals (a certain race, class, gender etc.) to considering this complex concept in terms of a plurality of players and factors related to marginality broadly defined, some of which have little or nothing to do with power structures and dichotomies. Marginality is thus conceived of as an epistemic category and not as a power status. © 2012 International Society for the Study of European Ideas.