Public Relations and Individuality: Fate, Technology and Autonomy

Our individuality is partly shaped by encounters with the external world so it is inconceivable that we are unaffected by the planned management of public communications which manages much of our external experience. Exploring one of the most important mediators between organizations and individual encounters - public relations (PR) - is long overdue. By developing new ways to create and connect with us as members of particular target audiences, has it changed our interior existence by altering perceptions of the world outside ourselves? PR's massive impact on groups, society or organizations is rightly explored, but its immense influence on our individuality is neglected. In an age where new media makes deepening connections to individuals, the relationship of PR to individuality is one of the field's most profoundly important issues. This provocative book will assist scholars and advanced students in PR and communication research to develop a clear, structured, disciplined understanding of this phenomenon and its implications.