Public Relations, Society & Culture: Theoretical and Empirical Explorations

by Edwards; Lee

• ISBN13: 9780415572743
• ISBN10: 0415572746
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2011-04-05
• Publisher: ROUTLEDGE

Summary

Historically, public relations research has been dominated by organisational interests, treating the profession as an organisational function first and foremost, and adopting quantitative techniques to explore its practice and processes. Such research is valuable in addressing how public relations practitioners can carry out their roles more effectively from the perspective of the organisation. However, this singular focus on public relations in organisations has tended to exclude the social world in which those organisations operate.This edited collection adds momentum to the emergent interest in the socio-cultural role of public relations by bringing together a range of alternative theoretical and methodological approaches, including anthropology, diversity, storytelling, pragmatism and Latin American studies. These are interspersed with narratives and interview extracts, resulting in an engaging text which provides new inspiration whilst further contributing to our understanding of the relationship between public relations, society and culture.Public Relations, Society and Culture draws on insights from a wide range of disciplines including sociology, cultural studies, post-colonialism, political economy, ecological studies, feminism and critical race theory. It illustrates the effects of the public relations profession on its environment, and will provide students and scholars with an essential grounding in both the traditional and the progressive perspectives of public relations.

Author Biography

Lee Edwards is lecturer in Corporate Communications and PR at Manchester Business School based at the University of Manchester, UK. Caroline E. M. Hodges is a member of the Institute for Media and Communications Research based at Bournemouth Media School, UK.

Table of Contents

Contributors	p. ix
Acknowledgements	p. xi
Introduction: Implications of a (radical) socio-cultural 'turn' in public relations scholarship	p. 1
Imagining public relations anthropology	p. 15
Public relations in the postmodern city: An ethnographic account of PR occupational culture in Mexico City	p. 33
Public relations and storytelling	p. 47
Public relations and society: A Bourdieuvian perspective	p. 61
Diversity in public relations	p. 75
Communication for social transformation	p. 90
Pragmatism, semiotics and sacred truth	p. 105
Bubble wrap: Social media, public relations, culture and society	p. 118
Index	p. 133
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