ABSTRACT

International Public Relations: Perspectives from deeply divided societies is positioned at the intersection of public relations (PR) practice with socio-political environments in divided, conflict and post-conflict societies. While most studies of PR focus on the activity as it is practiced within stable democratic societies, this book explores perspectives from contexts that have tended to be marginalized or uncharted.

Presenting research from a diverse range of societies still deeply divided along racial, ethnic, religious or linguistic lines, this collection engages with a variety of questions including how PR practice in these societies may contribute to our understanding of PR theory building. Importantly, it highlights the role of communication strategies for actors that still deploy political violence to achieve their goals, as well as those that use it in building peace, resolving conflict, and assisting in the development of civil society.

Featuring a uniquely wide range of original empirical research, including studies from Israel/Palestine, Mozambique, Northern Ireland, former Yugoslavia, former Czechoslovakia, Spain, Malaysia and Turkey, this groundbreaking book will be of interest not only to scholars of public relations, but also political communication, international relations, and peace and conflict studies.

With a Foreword by Krishnamurthy Sriramesh, Editor of The Global Public Relations Handbook

chapter 1|8 pages

Introduction

Public relations in deeply divided societies

chapter 2|18 pages

Nation building in the Former Yugoslavia

A 20-year retrospective to understand how public relations rebuilds relationships in divided societies

chapter 3|19 pages

Dialogue with the enemy

Lessons for public relations on dialogue facilitation drawn from the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

chapter 4|26 pages

Making sense of communication in societies divided by terrorism

Lessons from Northern Ireland

chapter 5|22 pages

Deliberative democracy and government public relations in a deeply divided society

Exploring the perspectives of Government Information Officers in Northern Ireland

chapter 7|18 pages

Catalonia's public diplomacy and media relations strategy

A case study of the Eugeni Xammar Programme of International Communication and Public Relations

chapter 8|19 pages

Government communication in Mozambique

The open presidencies of Armando Guebuza as a public relations strategy to strengthen national identity

chapter 9|23 pages

1Malaysia: ‘People first, performance now'

A critical perspective on the nation building approach in Malaysia's government public relations

chapter 10|25 pages

Propaganda in Czechoslovakia in the 1980s

Life in a ritualised lie