Sociopolitical Advocacy and the Role of Public Relations

Theoretical Developments and Emerging Perspectives on Corporate Social Advocacy and Related Constructs
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-032-97295-4
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 256 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Routledge Research in Public Relations

This volume explicates the role of sociopolitical advocacy and other related constructs as forms of prosocial communication.

Bringing together a diverse group of scholars, this volume provides comprehensive conceptualizations and discussions of key constructs related to prosocial communication, including corporate social advocacy (CSA), corporate political advocacy (CPA), corporate racial responsibility (CRR), corporate social responsibility (CSR), and CEO activism, through perspectives grounded in public relations, marketing, and communication theory. The chapters examine theoretical underpinnings of sociopolitical advocacy to offer understanding of both normative and instrumental drivers of advocacy, relationship-building, effective and ethical advocacy messaging, and how advocacy intersects with subdisciplines of public relations. With attention to current issues, the book also examines principles and concepts of advocacy and explaining how they have been applied in research and practice in various organizational contexts to address how societal changes will impact sociopolitical advocacy research and practices in the future.

Offering both a strong introduction to topics for novices as well as a more advanced interrogation of sociopolitical advocacy for more knowledgeable readers, the book will appeal to advanced students and researchers in public relations, strategic communication, organizational communication, and allied fields.

Zielgruppe

Academic, Postgraduate, and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Overton, Holly K.

Browning, Nicholas

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Kommunikationswissenschaften
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Betriebswirtschaft Bereichsspezifisches Management Public Relations

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Part I: Foundations

1. Responsibility, Advocacy, and Activism: Explicating and Mapping Constructs

2. A New Integrated Theoretical Model of Stakeholder Response to Corporate Social Advocacy

3. Public Relations and the Art of Living Together: Corporate Social Advocacy as an Organizational Citizenship Responsibility in Democratic, Interdependent Societies

4. Trickle Down and Out Effects of Leadership Communication: The Special Case of CEO Activism

5. Corporate Racial Responsibility: Theory, Applications, and Extensions

Part II: Antecedents and Frameworks

6. Engaging Polarized Publics in Corporate Social Advocacy: A Deliberative-Agonistic Model of Dialogic Communication

7. Navigating Corporate Social Advocacy: Organizational Dynamics and Challenges

8. Authenticity in Corporate Social Advocacy

9. Shaping Public Expectations: The Interplay of Individual, Organizational, and Social Determinants in Organizational Advocacy

10. Messages that Move Us: Opportunities for Integrating Media Psychology and Public Relations in Corporate Social Advocacy Theory and Message Development

Part III: Applications Across the Field

11. Corporate Social Engagement Framework in a Fully Functioning Society: Businesses as Agents of Change via Principled Corporate Dissent

12. A View from the Other Side: Advocacy and Nonprofit Communication

13. When It Doesn’t Go to Plan: Corporate Social Advocacy and Crisis Communication

14. Exploring the Intersection of Social Media and Artificial Intelligence in Organizational Advocacy Practices

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Holly K. Overton is an Associate Professor in the Bellisario College of Communications and Research Director of the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication at The Pennsylvania State University, USA.

Nicholas Browning is an Associate Professor in The Media School at Indiana University, USA.