Conference Agenda

In this speech, I interrogate the intersections of public relations and responsibility, highlighting increasing complexities in articulating businesses’ voice in society in polarized times. Historically, public relations and its role in giving voice to corporate environmental, social, and governance responsibilities have been fraught with tensions that include issues of corporate hypocrisy, audience skepticism and cynicism, and the chasm between storytelling and storydoing. To add fuel to the fire, the public sphere is becoming increasingly polarized, filled with raised voices of ethically conscious millennials and hypermodern individuals protesting simmering societal injustices. As a boundary spanning function, how can public relations help organizations stay in sync with their publics when the world is in turmoil? How can public relations help organizations take a stand in polarized times? I argue that while there is merit in both the instrumental, strategic approach to communicating corporate responsibilities and the co-creational approach built on dissensus and agonistic rhetoric that embraces dissent and celebrates pluralistic voices, polarized contexts fraught with power inequities and hidden motives pose unique challenges for organizations to articulate a stand on societal issues. I question whether the idea of foregrounding dissensus is a luxury belief held by CSR elites that could potentially harm smaller enterprises. Instead, I propose that public relations research and practice could turn to the existential notion of purpose and tenets of the ancient philosophy of stoicism to guide organizations to articulate their roles in society. Centering the notion of purpose – why we exist? - while actively engaging with diverse, divergent voices through the lens of stoicism could help to articulate a situated, authentic voice of businesses’ role in society.