In the essays collected for this volume, the political occupies a position that might best be called architectonic: it is the common thread running through the different scholarly approaches of the IWM's Junior Fellows. The difficulty of establishing the limits (institutional, social, discursive) of the political is perhaps one reason why
these essays –which deal with philosophy, religion, literature, art, and history (as well as political science) – all create a language to locate it. The strength of the IWM's Junior Fellows' Conference undoubtedly lies in the diversity of the specializations – and individuals – it brings together. So it should not be surprising that the political is "located" in as many different manners as there are topics under discussion.
