Public Relations in Times of Dissensus: Narratives, Artifacts, and the Challenges of Meaning

Public relations are entering an era marked by increasing societal dissensus, where shared narratives are breaking down and contentious communication defines the public sphere. This edited volume argues that public relations must move beyond consensus-seeking models to engage with dissent as a critical feature of modern communication. The traditional public relations approaches that pursue collective agreement are increasingly out of step with the contemporary dynamics shaped by political polarization, digital framing, and postmodern challenges to metanarratives. Instead of fighting against the grain, contributors explore how public relations can evolve to effectively function amid conflict, contradiction, and competing values. Various case studies and critical analyses including non-profit organizations, government crisis communication, corporate social advocacy, global diplomacy, and historical movements provide interdisciplinary insights into how public relations can strategically navigate dissents. By repositioning dissensus as a productive condition that requires engagement, this book invites scholars and practitioners to reconsider public relations as a field shaped not solely by consensus but by contestation, complexity, and plurality. As such, this volume offers a timely reevaluation of the public relations field's foundation and future trajectory in a complex world by engaging with dissensus as a site of ethical and strategic potential.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction Part I: Non-Profit, Pedagogy and Civic Engagement 1. Harmonizing Dissensus: An Exploration of Public Relations Strategies in Nonprofit Organizations Advancing Racial Equality Pascale Caidor (Université de Montréal, Canada) 2. Navigating Dissensus Beyond Core Purpose: Mapping Potential Societal Contributions for Nonprofit Public Relations Virginia 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 Disasters Mildred 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 Dissensus Adrienne 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 Dissent 5. Corporate Response to Social Movements: The Role of Activism in Shaping Corporate Social Responsibility and Advocacy in Public Relations Teresa 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 Crisis Victoria 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 22 Caryn 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 Challenges Taeyoung Kim (Loyola University Chicago, USA) 11. Transparency and Trust in Times of Dissensus: What Chileans Mean When They Demand Organizational Transparency as a Trustworthiness Attribute Paulina 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 Relations Tugce 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 Dalmatia Martina Topic-Rutherford (University of Alabama, USA) Notes on Contributors Bibliography Index

About the Author :
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.

Review :
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. This book is a welcome scholarly contribution in the field of critical public relations. Within the argumentative and uncertain conditions of the 21st century, its collective voices open an urgent agenda to question obsolete assumptions in public relations. In doing so, it is a call to rethink how organizations might communicatively intervene and to find a new and reflexive path through.