ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 contributes to the overall aim of the book to provide an empirically grounded theorisation of conferences as sites of ‘live’ knowledge production; this chapter has the particular aim of unpacking dominant discourses that surround—and often simplify—conferences. These discourses, which are identified as ‘defining moment’ and ‘conference fatigue’ discourses, are shown to produce reductive constructions of conferences which elide the connections between the embodied experience of attending conferences with the knowledge production aspects of conferences. Secondly, the chapter sets out a clear justification for critical conferences research using in-depth empirical techniques. Overall the chapter seeks to establish a rationale and empirical agenda for critically engaged, sociologically oriented conferences research.
