Full Description
This edited volume explores the evolving role of pubic relations in an era marked by increasing societal dissensus, where shared narratives are breaking down and contentious communication defines the public sphere.
The traditional public relations approaches that have long centered on the pursuit of consensus are increasingly out of step with the contemporary dynamics shaped by political polarization, digital framings, and postmodern challenges to metanarratives.
This book argues that public relations must move beyond consensus-seeking models to engage with dissent as a critical feature of modern communication. Contributors explore how public relations functions amid conflict, contradiction and competing values. Case studies and critical analysis span non-profit organizations, government crisis communication, corporate social advocacy, global diplomacy, and historical movements, providing interdisciplinary insights into how public relations can strategically navigate dissents. By repositioning dissensus as a productive condition that requires engagement, the book invites scholars and practitioners to reconsider public relations as a field shaped not solely by consensus but by contestation, complexity, and plurality. As such, this volume offers a timely reevaluation of the public relations field's foundation and future trajectory in a complex world by engaging with dissensus as a site for ethical and strategic potential.
Contents
Preface
Introduction
Part I: Non-Profit, Pedagogy and Civic Engagement
1. Harmonizing Dissensus: An Exploration of Public Relations Strategies in Nonprofit Organizations Advancing Racial Equality
Pascale Caidor (Université de Montréal, Canada)
2. Navigating Dissensus Beyond Core Purpose: Mapping Potential Societal Contributions for Nonprofit Public Relations
Virginia S. Harrison (Penn State University, USA) and Luke Capizzo (Michigan State University, USA)
3. Is It Easier for a Fire than a Flood? Navigating Dissensus in Crisis and Centering Information Subsidies During Natural Disasters
Mildred F. "Mimi" Perreault (University of South Florida, USA) and Luke Capizzo
4. The Role of Student-Run Communications Agencies in Shaping Public Relations in the Face of Dissensus
Adrienne A. Wallace (Grand Valley State University, USA), Jeffrey Ranta (Coastal Carolina University, USA), Shana Meganck (James Madison University, USA), and Harold (Hal) Vincent (Elon University, USA)
Part II: Corporate and Mediated Dissent
5. Corporate Response to Social Movements: The Role of Activism in Shaping Corporate Social Responsibility and Advocacy in Public Relations
Teresa Tackett (University of Arkansas, USA)
6. Meat the Environmental Stewards - JBS's Shifting Net-Zero Narrative Amid Greenwashing Accusations
Saima Kazmi (University of Oregon, USA) and Burton St. John III (University of Colorado Boulder, USA)
7. Dissensus in Metanarratives about Wealth in the United States: A Case Study of the OceanGate Crisis
Victoria McDermott (University of Alaska Troth Yeddha', USA), Olivia Truban (University of Alaska Fairbanks Troth Yeddha' and Northern Virginia Community College, USA), and Tobias Reynolds-Tylus (James Madison University, USA)
8. Troll of Duty: Masculinity, Gaming, and Queer Public Relations
Joshua Foust (Syracuse University, USA)
9. Ethics and Corporate Political Engagement: The Case of California's Prop 22
Caryn E. Medved (City University of New York, USA)
Part III: Cultural, Global, and Historic Perspectives
10. Corporate Social Advocacy in Divided Societies: Navigating Ethical Quandaries and Legitimacy Challenges
Taeyoung Kim (Loyola University Chicago, USA)
11. Transparency and Trust in Times of Dissensus: What Chileans Mean When They Demand Organizational Transparency as a Trustworthiness Attribute
Paulina Bravo-Maggi (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile) and Claudia Labarca (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile)
12. Public Diplomacy Practices through the Cultural-Economic Model of Public Relations
Tugce Ertem-Eray (North Carolina State University, USA)
13. PR in a Time of Dissent: Political PR of the Croatian People's Movement in the 19th Century Dalmatia
Martina Topic-Rutherford (University of Alabama, USA)
Notes on Contributors
Bibliography
Index
