This book sets out a range of theoretical approaches that can underpin a socio-cultural view of public relations, offering students a new set of insights into public relations that illustrate the effects of the profession on its environment.
Lee Edwards is lecturer in Corporate Communications and PR at Manchester Business School based at the University of Manchester, UK. Her main research interests revolve around sociological understandings of PR and include the operation of power in and through PR, 'race' and PR, PR as a cultural intermediary, and PR in the context of globalization. She is a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Public Relations Research, and has contributed to a number of books including The SAGE Handbook of Public Relations (2010) and Public Relations in Global Cultural Contexts (2010).
Caroline E. M. Hodges is a member of the Institute for Media and Communication Research based at Bournemouth Media School. She regularly teaches on undergraduate and postgraduate units concerned with the relationship between communication and culture. Caroline's research interests include the application of ethnography within communication research, Latin American communication theory, transnational and multicultural public relations and communication for social change.
Contents: Selected Contents: Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction: Implications of a (radical) socio-cultural 'turn' in public relations scholarship Lee Edwards, Manchester Business School (University of Manchester) and Caroline E. M. Hodges, Bournemouth University Chapter 1. Imagining public relations anthropology Jacquie L'Etang, Stirling Media Institute Chapter 2. Public relations in the postmodern city: An ethnographic account of PR occupational culture in Mexico City Caroline E. M. Hodges, Bournemouth University Chapter 3. Public relations and storytelling Paul Elmer, University of Central Lancashire Chapter 4. Public relations and society: A Bourdieuvian perspective Lee Edwards, Manchester Business School (University of Manchester) Chapter 5. Diversity in public relations Lee Edwards, Manchester Business School (University of Manchester) Chapter 6. Communication for social transformation Caroline E. M. Hodges, Bournemouth University and Nilam McGrath, Leeds University Business School Chapter 7. Pragmatism, semiotics and sacred truth Steve Mackey, Deakin University Chapter 8. Bubble Wrap - Social Media, Public Relations, Culture and Society Kristin Demetrious, Deakin University