Margins of the Establishment
Term
Margins of the Establishment
Idea level
Concept
Definition
Margins of the establishment is a positionality concept, articulated by Yuen Yuen Ang (2025), to describe being situated close enough within elite institutions to know how they operate, yet far enough to perceive their blind spots and exclusions. From this position, one can challenge dominant views that those fully embedded within the establishment are disincentivized or unable to see. Rather than a disadvantage, the margins of the establishment offers a unique vantage point for moral clarity and paradigmatic innovation.
Sources
Ang, YY. “Polytunity: The Future of Development,” The Ideas Letter, 4 Sep 2025. (open-access)
Ang, Y.Y. “AIM: Introduction and Applications,” Oxford Development Studies, Forthcoming in 2026.
Genealogy
[Paradigm] AIM (Adaptive, Inclusive, Moral) Political Economy
→ [Pillar] Moral: confront power and positionality in knowledge production
→ [Concept] Margins of the Establishment
→ [Application] Turns marginality from disadvantage to analytic and moral vantage point in perceiving global disruption not just as polycrisis (collapse and fear), but as polytunity (possibility)
Quote
“Why do the most influential thinkers stop at naming fear? Why do they not see possibility in crises? The answer has much to do with positionality. As Edward Said once observed, “No one has ever devised a method for detaching the scholar from a class, a set of beliefs, or a social position.” Transparency begins with recognizing where one stands and how that shapes what you can see.
I stand on the margins of the establishment. On the one hand, I am privileged to be a tenured professor in the West—without that position, it is fair to say, I wouldn’t be heard at all. On the other hand, within the establishment, I am confined to the edges. Not white, not male, foreign accent, contrarian ideas.
Take one of my recurring arguments: development begins by “using what you have”… In mainstream forums, the response is consistent: “That sounds too simple.” Apparently, indigeneous innovation is simplistic, while foreign-designed aid projects are rigorous and sophisticated. I am still waiting for someone to explain these double standards.
That is the vantage point from which I speak: close enough to see the establishment from within, but far enough to recognize its blind spots. From that perspective, polytunity becomes visible.”
— Ang, Polytunity (2025), “Diagnosing Polycrisis from the Margins”
Concept Constellation
Across Ang’s work, Margins of the Establishment consistently co-appears with the following concepts and analytic themes:
Polytunity (in contrast to Polycrisis) / seeing possibility vs. naming fear
AIM (Adaptive, Inclusive, Moral) Political Economy (in contrast to Industrial-Colonial Paradigm)
Positionality
Blind spots
Challenging old paradigms and advancing new ones