===== 🧾 Membership (Academic Definition) =====

**Membership** refers to formal inclusion in a professional, academic, or scientific organization — often used to signal credibility, network access, and institutional alignment.

==== 🧩 Types of Membership ====
  * **Active membership** – Participation in committees, working groups, or regular contributions to the organization’s goals.
  * **Passive membership** – Annual dues paid for access to events, journals, or name inclusion, without actual involvement.
  * **Honorary membership** – Given in recognition of past achievements or influence, often symbolic.
  * **Strategic membership** – Obtained mainly to boost one’s CV or social capital.

==== 🎭 In Practice ====
> A researcher lists 15 memberships on their CV, but has never contributed to a meeting, task force, or policy statement in any of them — this is *prestige through subscription*.

==== ⚠️ Critical Issues ====
  * **Membership inflation** – Accumulating memberships to appear more influential or connected.
  * **Name-dropping** – Using prestigious society names to signal status without actual involvement.
  * **Credential padding** – Inflating CVs for promotions, grants, or speaking invitations.

==== 📎 Related Terms ====
  * [[careerism|Careerism]]
  * [[glossy_cv|Glossy CV]]
  * [[academic_theater|Academic Theater]]
  * [[institutional_prestige|Institutional Prestige]]

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**Bottom line**: *Membership is meaningful when tied to contribution — otherwise, it's academic window dressing.*