ABSTRACT
PR needs to be sensitive to change and to be aware of the shifting contexts within which it has to function. This chapter sets out our view of contemporary conditions in the midst of transformative change: “Every few hundred years in Western history, there occurs a sharp transformation” in which “society rearranges itself – its worldview; its basic values; its social and political structure; its arts; its key institutions” (Drucker, 1993, p. 1). While we agree with Drucker that transformation is underway, we disagree that it is restricted to Western history. In fact, a distinctive feature, and driving force, of this transformative change is its global scope, and its insertion of all history into world history. Currently PR is unprepared for engagement with the globally transforming environment of the early twenty-first century. Indeed as a vastly expanded electronic capacity collects and communicates a wider world opinion to more people, more quickly than ever before, the ongoing US leadership in global commerce, politics, and PR has been called into doubt.
