Elsevier

Public Relations Review

Volume 32, Issue 3, September 2006, Pages 229-231
Public Relations Review

Rethinking power in public relations

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2006.05.013Get rights and content

Abstract

In the United Kingdom, popular sceptism about the merits of public relations has prompted self-reflection among practitioners and industry bodies. At the root of the public debate is the assumption that public relations wields unjustified social influence on behalf of already privileged organizational interests. The core concern of this discussion, therefore, is the power that a public relations has in democratic societies.

This paper proposes that adopting a relational view of public relations as a profession defined by its relationships will help explicate the nature of power more effectively. Using Pierre Bourdieu's framework of fields, structures, habitus and capital, a more comprehensive picture of how power operates in public relations can be developed, which will give us a new starting point for addressing public concerns.

Introduction

Current views of power in mainstream public relations theories are poorly developed. In the critical literature, views of power are more explicit but still largely reflect agentic or structural perspectives. A more productive view of power requires an understanding of the context in which public relations operates; that is, as a socially embedded profession.

Pierre Bourdieu's inherently relational view of the world incorporates agency, structure, networks and discourse as mutually influential factors that shape overall power dynamics in society (Bourdieu, 1990, Bourdieu, 1991, Bourdieu, 1992). Applied to public relations, it gives us a framework to both analyze and interpret the profession in its social context. This should afford us a more productive set of insights with which to address the current public debate around trust, reputation and ethics (L’Etang, 2005, Roper, 2005).

Section snippets

A relational view of public relations

Bourdieu advocates a relational mode of thinking, where the meaning of social attributes (such as professions, gender, educational qualifications, appearance) can only be understood within the context of the relationships in which they are relevant (Bourdieu, 1992). These relationships exist within fields, where members of a particular group practice according to unconscious rules and norms informed by habitus (see below). The structures of these fields are homologous with the systems of

Symbolic power

Bourdieu's concept of symbolic power introduces power based on the cognitive transformation of tangible resources into artefacts that inhere more and different meaning and value than their material attributes would suggest. Symbolic power is generated by dominant groups misrepresenting their interests to the public, thereby normalizing social structures and habitus that support their position. Bourdieu (1991) regards language as one of the main tools through which symbolic power is perpetuated

A research agenda

To progress our understanding of public relations and the nature of power within the profession, this paper proposes that Bourdieu's framework is most appropriate for future research. A research agenda should then include:

  • 1.

    an analysis of the habitus relevant to public relations;

  • 2.

    a review of the structures that define the field of public relations and their relation to broader social and economic structures;

  • 3.

    the use of language both within the profession and as used by the profession in the tactics

References (11)

  • J. L’Etang

    Critical public relations: Some reflections

    Public Relations Review

    (2005)
  • B.K. Berger

    Power over, power with, and power to relations: Critical reflections on public relations, the dominant coalition, and activism

    Journal of Public Relations Research

    (2005)
  • P. Bourdieu

    The logic of practice

    (1990)
  • Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power (G. Raymond & M. Adamson, Trans.). Cambridge, UK: Polity...
  • P. Bourdieu

    The field of cultural production: Essays in art and literature

    (1992)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (0)

The complete paper, with its review of PR literature, can be obtained from the author. Requests should be sent to [email protected].

View full text