Author: Daniel Nehring

My career so far, which current sees me as senior lecturer in sociology in the Department of Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy of Swansea University, 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 organizational structures, patterns of authority, and forms of intellectual activity. With my posts, I hope to draw attention to some of these transformations.

From the University to the Edu-Factory: Understanding the Crisis of Higher Education
Industry
November 25, 2024

From the University to the Edu-Factory: Understanding the Crisis of Higher Education

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Why the Latest Strike Wave at UK Universities is Likely to Achieve Little
Opinion
November 23, 2022

Why the Latest Strike Wave at UK Universities is Likely to Achieve Little

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The Journal Citation Reports 2022 Are Out. What Do They Mean for Sociology?
Impact
July 6, 2022

The Journal Citation Reports 2022 Are Out. What Do They Mean for Sociology?

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Commercializing UK Academia: What’s the Next Step?
Higher Education Reform
June 14, 2022

Commercializing UK Academia: What’s the Next Step?

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Is COVID-19 Enabling Academic Disaster Capitalism?

Is COVID-19 Enabling Academic Disaster Capitalism?

This seems, writes Daniel Nehring, to be a good time to feel pessimistic about academia in the COVID world, and to turn this pessimism into meaningful debate and effective action.

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How Will COVID-19 Affect Academic Freedom?

How Will COVID-19 Affect Academic Freedom?

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacted a toll on academic freedom is several ways, in particular by restricting mobility and allowing for greater surveillance.

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2021: From Scholars to Disposable Labor in the Brave New World of Academic Capitalism

2021: From Scholars to Disposable Labor in the Brave New World of Academic Capitalism

In terms of the organization of academic labor, higher education is ever more sharply divided between, on the one hand, an advantaged minority in full-time, long-term employment and, on the other hand, academia’s reserve army of labor.

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The Sociology of Psychologies: What is It and Why Does It Matter?

The Sociology of Psychologies: What is It and Why Does It Matter?

Throughout the 20th century, psychological knowledge managed to break free from the confines of academic debates and clinical practice, defining, by the early 21st century at the latest, how we think about who we are, how we feel, what our goals in life are, how we form relationships with others, and how society’s institutions operate

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What’s Wrong with Peer Review?

What’s Wrong with Peer Review?

Academic capitalism exhibit a lack of transparency and accountability where it truly matters. Peer review and the ways in which journals often handle peer reviews are one key site of such intransparency and unaccountability.

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How Will COVID-19 Affect the International Reserve Army of Academic Labor?

How Will COVID-19 Affect the International Reserve Army of Academic Labor?

Around the world, face-to-face teaching has ceased, campuses are closed and empty, a sudden shift to pervasive online has generated little enthusiasm among students, travel restrictions have drained the lucrative flow of international students to a trickle, and many universities have reported significant financial problems. So what do I do with my freshly minted PhD?

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Brexit and the Decline of Academic Internationalism in the UK

Brexit and the Decline of Academic Internationalism in the UK

Brexit seems likely to extend the hostility of the UK immigration system to scholars from European Union countries — unless a significant change of migration politics and prevalent public attitudes towards immigration politics took place in the UK. There are no indications that the latter will happen anytime soon.

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The Power of Nunchi and the Making of a Self-Help Fad

The Power of Nunchi and the Making of a Self-Help Fad

With a little luck, nunchi — billed as ‘the Korean secret to happiness,’ might just become the next mindfulness, spawning a decade-defining self-help trend and sparking a lasting media debate.

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