"I'd like to Thank the Academy": An Analysis of the Awards Discourse at the Atlantic Schools of Business Conference

The awarding of prizes has become embedded in all aspects of our society, including academic conferences. At the same time, the reputation economy, an economy where individual standing is based on the opinions of end users, is growing in strength and validity. We analyzed the way in which the awards discourse has been recontextualized within a small academic conference that is struggling to fi nd legitimacy—the Atlantic Schools of Business Conference. With a focus on language and the different meanings words hold in different discourses, we have determined that recontextualization of the discourse within the conference has resulted in two distinct discourses—the discourse of the award giving body and the discourse of the potential award recipient. Copyright © 2008 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. JEL Classifi cation: M14

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