ABSTRACT
This chapter builds on the chapter on activism and public relations in the previous edition by reviewing literature on activism and public relations published between 2009 and 2019, mapping three major areas of research during this decade, and offering directions for future research. A review of the literature on public relations and activism published since the previous edition of this volume revealed that public relations scholarship on activism has been growing by exploring diverse perspectives and strands of research, which we summarize into three categories: (1) theoretical frameworks that examine the various theoretical frameworks used to examine activism, (2) activist strategies that examine the strategies employed by activist organizations, companies, individuals, and publics and (3) digital activism that ranges from research on website-based activism to social media-enabled activism. The authors argue that the much more research from diverse regions of the world is needed to help us understand the various facets of the activism-public relations nexus and so we offer suggestions for future research.
