Public Relations and Social Theory: Key Figures, Concepts and Developments broadens the theoretical scope of public relations studies by applying the work of a group of prominent social theorists to make sense of the practice. The volume focuses on the work of key social theorists, including Max Weber, Karl Marx, John Dewey, Jurgen Habermas, Niklas Luhmann, Michel Foucault, Ulrich Beck, Pierre Bourdieu, Anthony Giddens, Robert Putnam, Erving Goffman, Peter L. Berger, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Bruno Latour, Dorothy Smith, Zygmunt Bauman, Harrison White, John W. Meyer, Luc Boltanski and Chantal Mouffe. Each chapter is devoted to an individual theorist, providing an overview of that theorist's key concepts and contributions, and exploring how these can be applied to public relations as a practice. Each chapter also includes a box giving a short and concise presentation of the theorist, along with recommendation of key works and secondary literature.

Public Relations and Social Theory: Key Figures, Concepts and Developments broadens the theoretical scope of public relations studies by applying the work of a group of prominent social theorists to make sense of the practice. The volume focuses on the work of key social theorists, including Max Weber, Karl Marx, John Dewey, Jürgen Habermas, Niklas Luhmann, Michel Foucault, Ulrich Beck, Pierre Bourdieu, Anthony Giddens, Robert Putnam, Erving Goffman, Peter L. Berger, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Bruno Latour, Dorothy Smith, Zygmunt Bauman, Harrison White, John W. Meyer, Luc Boltanski and Chantal Mouffe. Each chapter is devoted to an individual theorist, providing an overview of that theorist’s key concepts and contributions, and exploring how these can be applied to public relations as a practice. Each chapter also includes a box giving a short and concise presentation of the theorist, along with recommendation of key works and secondary literature.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables

Preface

1. Introduction: Public Relations and Social Theory; Magnus Fredriksson & Øyvind Ihlen

SOCIAL CHANGES

2. On Weber: Legitimacy and Legitimation in Public Relations; Arild Wæraas

3. On Luhmann: Reframing Public Relations as Part of Society’s Evolutionary Learning Processes; Susanne Holmstrøm

4. On Bauman: Power, Ethics and Social Hermeneutics; Magda Piezcka

5. On Beck: Public Relations and Quests for Responsibility; Magnus Fredriksson

6. On Latour: Actor-Networks, Modes of Existence and Public Relations; Piet Verhoeven

SOCIAL FORCES

7. On Bourdieu: Public Relations, Positions and Resources; Øyvind Ihlen

8. On Harrison White: Rethinking Relations in Public Relations; Peter Winkler & Stefan Wehmeier

9. On Meyer: Public Relations in a Context of World Society, Soft Actors and Rationalized De-coupling; Josef Pallas & Emilia Kvarnström

10. On Giddens: Interpreting Public Relations through Anthony Giddens’s

Structuration and Late Modernity Theories; Jesper Falkheimer

SOCIAL INTERACTIONS

11. On Putnam: Bowling Together – Applying Robert Putnam’s Theories of Community and Social Capital to Public Relations; Vilma Luoma-aho

12. On Berger: If Peter Berger were doing Public Relations – A Social Constructionist Perspective on Crisis Communication; Mats Heide

13. On Boltanski: The Sociology of Critique and Public Relations; Lee Edwards

14. On Goffman: Researching Relations with Erving Goffman as Pathfinder; Catrin Johansson

15. On Habermas: Communication and Understanding – Key Concepts for Public Relations; Roland Burkart

POWER

16. On Marx: Capitalism and Public Relations; Kay Weaver

17. On Dewey: Public Relations and its Eclipse of the Public; Lana Rakow

18. On Foucault: Engaging with Foucault’s Critical Theory and Methods; Judy Motion & Shirley Leitch

19. On Dorothy Smith: Public Relations and Feminist Theory at the Crossroads; Lana Rakow & Diana Iulia Nastasia

20. On Spivak: Theorizing Resistance in Public Relations; Mohan Jyoti Dutta

21. On Mouffe: Radical Pluralism and Public Relations; Scott Davidson & Judy Motion

22. Conclusions on the Compass, Context, Concepts, Concerns and Empirical Avenues for Public Relations; Øyvind Ihlen, Piet Verhoeven & Magnus Fredriksson

　

Author Bios/