Prestige is the status or reputation associated with renown, acclaim or glamour. It is often linked with celebrities and fame, and in contemporary mediated societies, this status is often afforded through the public visibility of legacy or digital media systems. Through the Power of Prestige conference series, we endeavour to explore the power associated with prestige as well as the power that prestige brings. While conceptually aligned with the areas of media and cultural studies, the conference series seeks explorations of the theorisation and application of prestige in different fields including sociology, criminology and political studies. The conference series also aims to explore the utility of prestige when encountering social issues such as political or environmental activism.
Starting broadly in the area of media studies, the inaugural Power of Prestige conference invites scholars researching areas related to media, fame and the environment to explore the central question of how prestige (or fame) is formulated, utilised, and critiqued.