ABSTRACT
One of the prerequisites of any profession that wishes to be taken seriously is the existence of a recognised body of knowledge, and professional standards that bind its members and governs their conduct. While European academics and practitioners have begun to work towards the establishment of a distinctive European body of knowledge in public relations, as was noted in the introduction to the first volume of papers from the International Public Relations Symposium (1994), much of this work has tended to take place in a very fragmented manner and has been the product of quite different research traditions. Thus while the foundations of a distinctive European body of knowledge in public relations have undoubtedly begun to be laid, there is still much work to be done before it will be possible to claim that a substantive and distinct European body of knowledge exists. The fact that the majority of the research into public relations within Europe continues to be based largely on models and theoretical frameworks which have been developed by US scholars, highlights the relatively immature state of the discipline within Europe. Indeed, the reliance on theoretical frameworks developed as a result of research conducted largely within US organisations and within US society, might arguably militate against the development of a genuinely European perspective of public relations practice. While US models might arguably provide an adequate basis for explaining public relations practice within the UK (because of relatively close socio-cultural, linguistic and business ties), there is little reason to assume that such models can necessarily be applied, for example, in southern and central European countries which have their own distinct culture and traditions. However, without further research into how public relations is understood and practised within such countries, it is impossible to reach any firm conclusions about the adequacy of current conceptualisations of public relations in terms of their application across Europe.
