Abstract
Globalization has spawned almost as many definitions as it has discourses surrounding its influence and relationship to culture, politics, economics and public relations. In the wake of globalization, new theories have emerged extending beyond the well-worn path of functionalism to explore the intersections of power, culture and public relations. In Public Relations in Global Cultural Contexts: Multi-Paradigmatic Perspectives, editors Nilanjana Bardhan and Kay Weaver cull works of some leading public relations scholars to offer paradigm-shifting insights on public relations theory, ranging from interpretive to critical approaches. Each of the book’s 10 chapters offer viewpoints contrary to the dominant functionalist theories grounded in objectivity, excellence and ‘best practices’ in PR, each pushing the boundaries of positivism by valorizing the preeminence of culture and power in global public relations practice.
Issues of culture and power tend toward postmodernism and critical-cultural perspectives, but a strength of the book is its treatment of functionalist perspectives, which are not ignored, but rather analyzed as antecedents to emergent forms of theory development. A politic of inclusion enriches the book, making it an excellent primer for new students of public relations theory and excellent resource for all public relations researchers. The opening chapter, ‘Public Relations in Global Cultural Contexts’, was written by Bardhan, an associate professor in the Department of Speech Communication at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, USA; and Weaver, Professor in the Department of Management Communication at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. The editors clearly articulate the foci of the book and their interconnectedness to globalization. Indeed, eight of the book’s 10 chapters has the word ‘global’ or ‘globalization’ in its title. This structural consistency avoids the regional-specific treatments often accorded to international public relations theory and eschews paradigm-specific approaches by steering toward the weighty role of globalization and the concomitant challenges it presents to global notions of public relations theory. Chapter 1 provides an exemplary overview of public relations paradigms before addressing the limitations and weaknesses of each. The authors posit the role of globalization in public relations theory has been under theorized; the primacy of culture merits additional attention; and new paradigms are needed to challenge dominant, often western-centric models. In this vein, the book helps illuminate the much-needed pathway toward a ‘critical turn’ in public relations theory.
The second chapter, Lee Edwards’s ‘Critical Perspectives in Global Public Relations: Theorizing Power’, suggests a starting point of critical theory and public relations, drawing heavily on the work of Appadurai and Bourdieu to discuss power and public relations. Edwards nicely summarizes the work of both critical theorists, but the end result ostensibly reifies power relationships at micro- and macro-political levels without offering a practical perspective that might inform a public relations student or practitioner. Each chapter in the book ends with discussion questions, which make the book a strong compendium for classroom discussion and debate. Edwards’s chapter and the subsequent discussion questions underscore the unresolved tension between the scholarship of public relations and its practice, a gap better addressed in the next chapter by Michael Kent and Maureen Edwards.
In Chapter 3, Kent and Edwards present an overview of cross-cultural theories, measures and indices to pose an important question to public relations scholars and practitioners: ‘What can I pull from these theories (and others) to make sense of interactions and communication? How can I engage others relationally and dialogically?’ This thoughtful question advances the book toward praxis in a way Edwards’s chapter does not, and its grafting of theory atop practical concerns is a productive one. Bardhan’s Chapter 4 examines the interrelationship between power and culture toward third culture building, suggesting possibilities to advance dialogic models for communication in transcultural public relations. Bardhan justifies the need for practitioners to assume a ‘dynamic cultural identity’ (p. 93) to navigate culture at local and global levels while remaining cognizant of the implications of their work and practice in the fluid cultural milieu.
Subsequent chapters delve further into the theory and politics of public relations across the globe. Derina Holtzhausen makes a compelling case for a postmodern turn in global public relations, echoing the introductory chapter’s case for an interpretive turn in theory development. Holtzhausen effectively explicates the relationship between postmodernism and critical theory by both blurring paradigmatic lines and reinforcing them. At the root of Holtzhausen’s argument is in how the paradigms treat discourses and underlying power assumptions, offering a model for an activist practitioner who can respect difference and acknowledge it while understanding the plight of marginalized publics. Far from an idealist, Holtzhausen sprinkles examples from her own experience and others to amplify her argument and root it in the practicalities of global public relations practice.
Robert Wakefield’s chapter critiques the generic/specific public relations theory that seeks to guide effective public relations practice in transnational corporations (TNCs). Wakefield’s chapter dovetails nicely with other chapters that emphasize the need for self-reflexivity among organizations and listening to publics, a move to ameliorate marginalization and tendency toward ‘othering’. Mohan Jyoti Dutta and Mahuya Pal’s chapter is bogged down in dense verbiage that clouds the important points presented. On p. 196, the authors write:
Postcolonial theory examines the symbolic representations and material relationships that underlie processes of colonization, offering openings for emancipatory politics that challenge the systematic erasures of the narratives of oppression and exploitation embedded in colonial and contemporary neocolonial configurations, and creating spaces for listening to the voices of the subaltern sectors of the globe that have hitherto been treated as subjects to be scripted, coded, and worked over within dominant knowledge structures.
Such murky prose requires such a careful reading that many scholars, let alone students, might struggle to make sense of it.
Jensen Chung proposes a fruitful Eastern approach to public relations theory through Chi-based strategies in Chapter 9. Chung deftly conflates the broadness of globalization with Chinese notions of harmony and interconnectedness among all living things. Situating a chapter grounded in eastern thought actualizes one of the book’s greatest strengths, the advancement of theories that are not based on western worldviews. In closing, Weaver integrates these alternative theories and examines them in relation to the dominant system’s Excellence theory to draw meaningful distinctions and chart a course for future directions. From her native New Zealand, Weaver suggests a Kaupapa Maori participatory approach to bridge these two paradigms. According to Weaver, Kaupapa Maori researchers strive for participatory research that diffracts the locus of power from the researcher to those being researched, turning the latter into co-researchers.
Public Relations in Global Cultural Contexts is a sorely needed book that brings multiple perspectives to public relations theory development, crossing national boundaries, cultures and paradigms to provide fresh commentary on public relations theory. As is common with edited volumes, some chapters are more apropos than others, but all address the complexities of power and culture in global public relations without excluding any paradigm. The inclusivity of traditional and non-traditional paradigms in the text give it broad relevance to all public relations scholars. Its treatment of theory and probing discussions into the strengths and weaknesses of dominant public relations theoretical paradigms as counterpoints to new theories is nuanced and insightful. This is an important book that will surely spark considerable discussion and dialogue about the role of public relations in a globalized world and the ongoing need for theories that contribute the global dimensionality of public relations practice.