Public Relations and the Question of Professionalism: Magda Pieczka and Jacquie L'Etang

This chapter is about professionalism in public relations. Given the strong interest in professionalism on the part of educators, researchers, and practitioners, some critical reflection is needed to understand how this concept has been used. The chapter aims to bring a number of new concepts and empirical material into the field. A brief literature review of the sociology of the professions is presented, followed by a review of selected public relations literature in light of the sociological debates over the concepts of profession and professionalism. The resulting insights are contextualized by a brief review of the development of public relations in Britain so as to explore alternative interpretations of history and public relations.