This book empirically examines academic conferences in the social sciences, and explores the purpose and value of people interested in the social sciences attending and presenting at national and international academic conferences. Using a highly original structure and style, the book considers the damaging impact of neoliberalism on conferences, and academia more widely, and explores the numerous barriers to conference attendance. It will be of interest to students and researchers who attend conferences in fields spanning the social sciences, as well as those interested in the effects of neoliberalism on academia.

About the Author
Dr Donald J Nicolson worked in academic research for 13 years and was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. He is currently a freelance writer. His works have been published in the likes of the British Medical Journal, Health Technology Assessment, The Cochrane Library, The Scotsman, and London School of Economics Impact Blog.

Reviews
"This is fluently written-an interesting read and also the first substantive treatment of this topic with a decent body of relevant literature reviewed to support it. The innovations in style and structure are really refreshing and I hope to see more from Nicolson in future." (Kevin Morrell, Management Learning, April, 2017)

"Nicolson's book Academic Conferences as Neoliberal Commodities provides an exploratory study into conferences in the social sciences, looking explicitly at the link between conferences and the neoliberalism of academia itself. ... is highly recommended to anyone working within the social sciences who aspires to make the most out of this unexplored yet integral part of performing and producing academia." (Fawzia Haeri Mazanderani, LSE Review of Books, blogs.lse.ac.uk, April, 2017)

Book Information
ISBN 9783319840994
Author Donald J Nicolson
Format Paperback
Page Count 78
Imprint Springer International Publishing AG
Publisher Springer International Publishing AG