Øyvind Ihlen – författare

Public Relations and Social Theory: Key Figures, Concepts and Developments broadens the theoretical scope of public relations studies by applying the work of a group of prominent social theorists to make sense of the practice. The volume focuses on the work of key social theorists, including Max Weber, Karl Marx, John Dewey, Jürgen Habermas, Niklas Luhmann, Michel Foucault, Ulrich Beck, Pierre Bourdieu, Anthony Giddens, Robert Putnam, Erving Goffman, Peter L. Berger, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Bruno Latour, Dorothy Smith, Zygmunt Bauman, Harrison White, John W. Meyer, Luc Boltanski and Chantal Mouffe. Each chapter is devoted to an individual theorist, providing an overview of that theorist’s key concepts and contributions, and exploring how these can be applied to public relations as a practice. Each chapter also includes a box giving a short and concise presentation of the theorist, along with recommendation of key works and secondary literature.

Public Relations and Social Theory: Key Figures, Concepts and Developments broadens the theoretical scope of public relations studies by applying the work of a group of prominent social theorists to make sense of the practice. The volume focuses on the work of key social theorists, including Max Weber, Karl Marx, John Dewey, Jürgen Habermas, Niklas Luhmann, Michel Foucault, Ulrich Beck, Pierre Bourdieu, Anthony Giddens, Robert Putnam, Erving Goffman, Peter L. Berger, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Bruno Latour, Dorothy Smith, Zygmunt Bauman, Harrison White, John W. Meyer, Luc Boltanski and Chantal Mouffe. Each chapter is devoted to an individual theorist, providing an overview of that theorist’s key concepts and contributions, and exploring how these can be applied to public relations as a practice. Each chapter also includes a box giving a short and concise presentation of the theorist, along with recommendation of key works and secondary literature.

Public Relations, Society and the Generative Power of History examines how histories are used to explore how the past is constructed from the present, how the present is always historical, and how both past and present can power imagined futures.Divided into three distinct parts, the book uses historical inquiry as a springboard for engaging with interdisciplinary, critical and complex issues in the past and present. Part I examines the history of corporate PR, the centrality of the corporation in PR scholarship and the possibility of resisting corporate hegemony through PR efforts. The theme of Part II is ‘Historicising gender, ethnicity and diversity in PR work,’ focusing on how gendered and racialised identities have been constructed and resisted both within the profession and through the result of its work. Part III engages with ‘Histories of public relations in the political sphere,’ bringing together work on the different ways in which public relations has evolved in changing political contexts, both formally as a function within political institutions and in the context of contributions to broader narratives of nationalism and identity.Featuring contributions from leading academics, this book challenges traditional PR historiography and contests the ‘lessons’ derived from existing literature to address the implications of key areas of critically engaged PR theory. This volume is a valuable teaching resource for upper-level undergraduates and postgraduates studying public relations, strategic communications, political communication and organisational communication.

Public Relations, Society and the Generative Power of History examines how histories are used to explore how the past is constructed from the present, how the present is always historical, and how both past and present can power imagined futures.Divided into three distinct parts, the book uses historical inquiry as a springboard for engaging with interdisciplinary, critical and complex issues in the past and present. Part I examines the history of corporate PR, the centrality of the corporation in PR scholarship and the possibility of resisting corporate hegemony through PR efforts. The theme of Part II is ‘Historicising gender, ethnicity and diversity in PR work,’ focusing on how gendered and racialised identities have been constructed and resisted both within the profession and through the result of its work. Part III engages with ‘Histories of public relations in the political sphere,’ bringing together work on the different ways in which public relations has evolved in changing political contexts, both formally as a function within political institutions and in the context of contributions to broader narratives of nationalism and identity.Featuring contributions from leading academics, this book challenges traditional PR historiography and contests the ‘lessons’ derived from existing literature to address the implications of key areas of critically engaged PR theory. This volume is a valuable teaching resource for upper-level undergraduates and postgraduates studying public relations, strategic communications, political communication and organisational communication.

This book represents the definitive research collection for corporate social responsibility communication, offering cross-disciplinary and international perspectives from the top scholars in the field. Addresses a gap in the existing CSR literatureDemonstrates the relevance of effective CSR communication for the management of organizationsThe 28 contributions come from top scholars in public relations, organizational communication, reputation management, marketing and management

Communication is developed in our relation to others and in relation to what happens in the social context. It is therefore not neutral but mediates people’s relationships and practices. Technological transitions, economical changes, medical advancements, environmental turbulence, political movements and other evolving circumstances influence public values that shape societies. It is important to analyse the situated meaning of these societal themes in everyday life, and the influence of public relations and strategic communication in this regard.Let’s Talk Society – and the society we´re talking about is in transition to a green and sustainable society, to an inclusive society, to an innovative and reflective society. What is our role as communication professionals in all of this? How can we foster public debate? This book addresses these challenges and offers some answers. The chapters from primarily European countries were selected from a large number of peer-reviewed contributions for the 2016 congress of the European Public Relations Education and Research Association hosted by Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen.

Creativity is the development and use of imagination to solve current challenges or create innovative ideas for the future. The complexity and challenges of the contemporary world arguably require increasing levels of creativity and innovation to manage the disruptive forces at work and build a prosperous and sustainable global society.Public relations isoften seen as the discipline that amplifies creative ideas developed by othersectors, but this is changing. With the blurring of lines among creativeindustries, organisations are increasingly turning to PR to generate the ‘bigideas’ at the heart of effective communication.This volume gathers 12 outstanding contributions from scholarsbased in Germany, Finland, Austria, Romania, the UK, Spain, France, Norway,Turkey and the USA. Taken together, the chaptersdemonstrate a range of possibilities for creative thinking about publicrelations management and collaboration in different settings and with differentpurposes. The chapters hint at opportunities, point towards innovation, and challenge our thinking about the power of creativity.

This edited volume compares experiences of how the Covid-19 pandemic was communicated in the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The Nordic countries are often discussed in terms of similarities concerning an extensive welfare system, economic policies, media systems, and high levels of trust in societal actors. However, in the wake of a global pandemic, the countries’ coping strategies varied, creating certain question marks on the existence of a “Nordic model”. The chapters give a broad overview of crisis communication in the Nordic countries during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic by combining organisational and societal theoretical perspectives and encompassing crisis response from governments, public health authorities, lobbyists, corporations, news media, and citizens. The results show several similarities, such as political and governmental responses highlighting solidarity and the need for exceptional measures, as expressed in press conferences, social media posts, information campaigns, and speeches. The media coverage relied on experts and was mainly informative, with few critical investigations during the initial phases. Moreover, surveys and interviews show the importance of news media for citizens’ coping strategies, but also that citizens mostly trusted both politicians and health authorities during the crisis. This book is of interest to all who are looking to understand societal crisis management on a comprehensive level. The volume contains chapters from leading experts from all the Nordic countries and is edited by a team with complementary expertise on crisis communication, political communication, and journalism, consisting of Bengt Johansson, Øyvind Ihlen, Jenny Lindholm, and Mark Blach-Ørsten.

During a pandemic, the advice issued by public health authorities undergoes significant scrutiny, potentially affecting public adherence to recommended measures. Trust and trustworthiness become key. This book analyses the rhetorical strategies of the Norwegian public health authorities as the COVID-19 pandemic moved through phases that presented different rhetorical problems and challenges. Many consider the Norwegian response successful, making it a particularly interesting case. Adopting an organisation-focused viewpoint, the analysis examines communication strategies through a dataset collected as the pandemic evolved. This included observations within communication departments of the main public health agencies during March and April 2020. The study offers five key insights: 1) A pandemic rhetorical situation has changing constraints and opportunities that influence the agency of the rhetor and necessitates bottom-up, continuing situational analysis and attention to perceptions; 2) The notion of “the rhetorical situation” conceptualises different phases that “bleed” into each other; 3) Trust and trustworthiness are negotiated through specific rhetorical strategies; 4) Transparency is the most crucial strategy; 5) Authorities used a combination of invitational rhetoric, providing a role for the citizens to willingly contribute to curbing the virus, and imperative form through simple directives that citizens were expected to follow.  The primary audience for this book is scholars and practitioners within crisis communication. The book is written by a team from the “Pandemic Rhetoric” project, financed by the Research Council of Norway, consisting of Øyvind Ihlen (University of Oslo), Sine Nørholm Just (Roskilde University), Jens E. Kjeldsen (University of Bergen), Ragnhild Mølster (University of Bergen), Truls Strand Offerdal (University of Oslo), Joel Rasmussen (Örebro University), and Eli Skogerbø (University of Oslo).