Ihlen, Ø., & van Ruler, B. (2007). How public relations works: Theoretical roots and public relations perspectives. Public Relations Review, 33(3), 243-248. (original) (raw)

How public relations works: Theoretical roots and public relations perspectives

Public Relations Review, 2007

Public relations is often studied from a managerial, instrumental perspective or a psychological, behavioral perspective. To understand the role of public relations in building trust or mistrust and to develop--or destroy--a license to operate, it needs also to be studied as a social phenomenon.

Preprint: How public relations works. Theoretical roots and public relations perspectives

Public relations is often studied from a managerial, instrumental perspective or a psychological, behavioral perspective. To understand the role of public relations in building trust or mistrust and to develop-or destroy-a license to operate, it needs also to be studied as a social phenomenon. This special issue of Public Relations Review will attempt to broaden the theoretical scope of public relations studies by applying the works of a string of prominent social theorists-Jürgen Habermas,

Ihlen, Ø., & Verhoeven, P. (2009). Conclusions on the domain, context, concepts, issues and empirical avenues of public relations. In Ø. Ihlen, B. van Ruler & M. Fredriksson (Eds.), Public relations and social theory: Key figures and concepts (pp. 332-349). New York: Routledge.

Public relations and social theory: Key figures and concepts, 2009

At least five conclusions can be drawn from the collective output of the essays in this book: public relations can be studied as a social activity in its own right; it must be understood in relation to its societal context; the crucial concepts of public relations are trust, legitimacy, understanding, and reflection; issues of power, behavior, and language are at the forefront of public relations study; and social theory is necessary to understand the practice of public relations and to raise important empirical questions about it. This chapter elaborates on these points, while at the same time acknowledging the richness and diversity of the theories discussed by the contributors, which do not lend themselves easily to the tasks of summarizing and drawing parallels.

Introduction: Applying social theory to public relations

2009

Public relations is often studied from a managerial, instrumental perspective. However, to understand its role in building trust or creating mistrust and in developing-or destroying-a company's license to operate, public relations also needs to be studied as a social phenomenon. With this book, we attempt to broaden the theoretical scope of public relations studies by applying the work of a group of prominent social theorists. What can be culled from the perspectives of these scholars? We suggest that insights can be garnered for public relations studies at the macro, meso, and micro levels. In other words, social theory can help us to make sense of public relations at the societal, organizational, and individual levels. This introductory chapter locates our project in the scientific landscape of social theory and sociology.

Looking back and going forward: The concept ofthe publicin public relations theory

Public Relations Inquiry, 2019

This article examines the development of the public as a foundational concept in public relations theory. It provides an overview of the way in which public relations has understood the term as referring to two distinct phenomena of a public and the public. The article approaches public relations theory as unfolding of a narrative identity of public relations. The discussion subsequently reaches to the work of Michael Warner and Judith Butler to consider the limitations and implications of the situational theory of publics and the deliberativist approach to the public derived from the work of John Dewey and Jürgen Habermas. In its final sections, the article redefines the public as a family of three distinct, but at times, overlapping terms: an audience as a public of shared spaces, a self-organized public of shared attention, and the public as a political and social imaginary. This article argues for the need to adopt the performative approach to the public in order to tackle some ...

Public Relations Theory: Past, Present and Future

Public relations is one of the fastest growing -and fastest changing -professional practices, with jobs expanding in many countries. For example, on the corporate side in the United States, » employment of public relations specialists (non-managers) is expected to grow 24 percent from 2008 to 2018, much faster than the average for all occupations (U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2011). Corporate public relations trends in most of the EU have followed the same course as in the U. S. over the last few decades.