Public Relations in Times of Dissensus

Burton St. John III is Associate Chair and Professor of Advertising, Public Relations, and Media Design at the University of Colorado Boulder, USA. Saima Kazmi is Assistant Professor of Advertising at the University of Oregon, USA.Joshua Foust is Assistant Professor of Public Relations at Syracuse University, USA.

• PrefaceIntroductionPart I: Non-Profit, Pedagogy and Civic Engagement1. Harmonizing Dissensus: An Exploration of Public Relations Strategies in Nonprofit Organizations Advancing Racial EqualityPascale Caidor (Université de Montréal, Canada)2. Navigating Dissensus Beyond Core Purpose: Mapping Potential Societal Contributions for Nonprofit Public RelationsVirginia S. Harrison (Penn State University, USA) and Luke Capizzo (Michigan State University, USA)3. Is It Easier for a Fire than a Flood? Navigating Dissensus in Crisis and Centering Information Subsidies During Natural DisastersMildred F. "Mimi" Perreault (University of South Florida, USA) and Luke Capizzo 4. The Role of Student-Run Communications Agencies in Shaping Public Relations in the Face of DissensusAdrienne A. Wallace (Grand Valley State University, USA), Jeffrey Ranta (Coastal Carolina University, USA), Shana Meganck (James Madison University, USA), and Harold (Hal) Vincent (Elon University, USA) Part II: Corporate and Mediated Dissent5. Corporate Response to Social Movements: The Role of Activism in Shaping Corporate Social Responsibility and Advocacy in Public RelationsTeresa Tackett (University of Arkansas, USA)6. Meat the Environmental Stewards – JBS’s Shifting Net-Zero Narrative Amid Greenwashing Accusations Saima Kazmi (University of Oregon, USA) and Burton St. John III (University of Colorado Boulder, USA)7. Dissensus in Metanarratives about Wealth in the United States: A Case Study of the OceanGate CrisisVictoria McDermott (University of Alaska Troth Yeddha', USA), Olivia Truban (University of Alaska Fairbanks Troth Yeddha’ and Northern Virginia Community College, USA), and Tobias Reynolds-Tylus (James Madison University, USA)8. Troll of Duty: Masculinity, Gaming, and Queer Public Relations Joshua Foust (Syracuse University, USA)9. Ethics and Corporate Political Engagement: The Case of California’s Prop 22Caryn E. Medved (City University of New York, USA)Part III: Cultural, Global, and Historic Perspectives 10. Corporate Social Advocacy in Divided Societies: Navigating Ethical Quandaries and Legitimacy ChallengesTaeyoung Kim (Loyola University Chicago, USA) 11. Transparency and Trust in Times of Dissensus: What Chileans Mean When They Demand Organizational Transparency as a Trustworthiness AttributePaulina Bravo-Maggi (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile) and Claudia Labarca (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile)12. Public Diplomacy Practices through the Cultural-Economic Model of Public RelationsTugce Ertem-Eray (North Carolina State University, USA)13. PR in a Time of Dissent: Political PR of the Croatian People’s Movement in the 19th Century DalmatiaMartina Topic-Rutherford (University of Alabama, USA)Notes on ContributorsBibliography Index

Public Relations in Times of Dissensus is a timely call for the field to move beyond its entrenched consensus bias and embrace dissensus as a defining feature of today’s public sphere. The editors and contributors show – through cases spanning nonprofits to public diplomacy – that recognizing the legitimacy of opposing views and the democratic value of passion can make public relations more ethical, adaptive, and relevant in an era of deep societal contestation.