Author: Daniel Nehring

My career so far has taken me to a fairly wide range of places, and this has allowed me to experience a wide range of approaches to sociology and social science. In my blog, I reflect on this diversity and its implications for the future of the discipline. Over the last few years, I have also become interested in exploring the contours of academic life under neoliberal hegemony. Far-reaching transformations are taking place at universities around the world, in terms of organisational structures, patterns of authority, and forms of intellectual activity. With my posts, I hope to draw attention to some of these transformations.

The Personal Consequences of the Academic Jobs Crisis
Career
February 22, 2014

The Personal Consequences of the Academic Jobs Crisis

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The New Academic Elitism
Career
December 7, 2013

The New Academic Elitism

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Sociology Outside Academia
Featured
October 19, 2013

Sociology Outside Academia

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De profundis
International Debate
September 12, 2013

De profundis

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The Sociologist, the Consultant, the University and the Real World

The Sociologist, the Consultant, the University and the Real World

In the context of consulting projects there may be very little room for the sociological imagination, the questioning of common sense, and, least of all, challenges to the status quo.

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Universities for the Post-Democratic Age

Universities for the Post-Democratic Age

Critical scholarship and intellectual dissent are currently being closed down in favour of a model of academic life that accords scholars a limited role as purveyors of practically useful skills in ‘real-world’ labour markets.

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Can Brands be Intellectuals?

Can Brands be Intellectuals?

As an academic, you are a brand not only as a matter of choice, but, increasingly, due to powerful institutional imperatives that are becoming harder and harder to ignore.

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The Myth of Academic Stardom

The Myth of Academic Stardom

The recent and on-going reforms of higher education are enforcing an individualisation of academic labour. That academics would gamely play along with such a system is astonishing.

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The Branded Sociologist: Can We Still Be On Anyone’s Side?

The Branded Sociologist: Can We Still Be On Anyone’s Side?

Sociology is a brand. To survive or even thrive in the academic marketplace, sociology needs to take care of its image. But at what cost?

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Signs of the Times

Signs of the Times

Tom Wolfe, Miami, and the shallowness of our image-driven modern life.

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So Much Noise: Are Academics being Over-Branded?

So Much Noise: Are Academics being Over-Branded?

The Ivory Tower has been toppled and academia has an impact in the ‘real world’. The problem is that this may have come at the expense of truly innovative and critical scholarship.

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How Useful are E-Readers for Academic Reading, Really?

How Useful are E-Readers for Academic Reading, Really?

E-readers are now commonplace. But how useful are e-readers as a replacement for printed academic books and journal articles?

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