Events and The Social Sciences

As the event management field expands as an area of study and discipline, there is a need to move beyond the business driven approaches which dominate the literature towards a more advanced conceptual analysis and understanding of events from within a socio-cultural context. This book addresses this need by being the first dedicated to the intersections between social sciences and the emerging field of events management. It applies and specifically contextualizes social science theories to the events context to provide a greater understanding of the significance of events in contemporary society. It firstly contextualizes events in social sciences studies then moves on to an in depth exploration of relevant theories exploring topics such as identity, culture, consumerism, representation and consequences of events and concludes with a discussion of emerging themes in events studies. International case studies based on a variety of event types including mega sports events, religious and cultural events and small-scale events are used throughout to address contemporary issues and show theory in practice. 'Think Points' are integrated throughout to encourage the reader to reflect on theories and each chapter concludes with chapter summaries, further reading and links to useful websites to consolidate learning and further knowledge. This book will provide upper level students', academics and researchers interested in events, as well as those from related social science disciplines, a robust socio-cultural conceptual analysis of the subject and a greater understanding of the significance of events in contemporary society.