ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes a social constructionist perspective on public relations, and focuses on crisis communication as an important sub-field, with inspiration from the American sociologist Peter L. Berger. According to Berger, society is constantly producing individuals, and new human concepts or inventions will gradually become a part of reality. Berger's work is an alternative to the dominant modernist epistemology that is predominant in public relations. An important concept that Berger discusses in Invitation to Sociology is institution, which he defines as a distinctive complex of social actions that regulate and rule people's behavior in different situations. The chapter presents three important concepts: externalization, objectivation and internalization. In the eyes of Berger, communication and language do not mirror reality, but rather creates the social reality. The language is a social product and the receivers construct the meaning. Through constant communication and interaction among the organizational members, common meanings and a social reality are produced.
