The field of public relations has grown in the last thirty years both academically and professionally, and is now a specialised, applied communication discipline. Most scholars and practitioners would agree that public relations is primarily a strategic organizational function that nurtures positive relationships with publics and stakeholders for organizations of all kinds: private, public, non-profit, activist, advocacy etc. However, some have taken a broader view of both public relations and the organizations it works for, focusing on their role as a source of interventions in social, cultural and political environments. As a result, the theoretical landscape of public relations has expanded beyond its organizational origins.
Despite increasing theoretical depth, however, recognition of public relations as an academic discipline and the quality and significance of its theoretical contributions are disputed within and beyond the public relations field. Its discrete body of knowledge and stock of theories have received little recognition outside the specific disciplinary domain. This may be because a universal understanding of the theoretical pillars on which the field is grounded is far from achieved.
Public relations scholars tend to agree that this is an interdisciplinary field and that many studies in public relations are rooted in diverse communication, sociological, cultural, managerial, and organizational forms of knowledge. Almost all public relations' established theories come from a wider field and/or have borrowed concepts and understandings and adapted them to public relations questions. Yet, to enjoy greater recognition and academic legitmacy, the theoretical contributions of public relations as a field in its own right must be able to both stand alone and contribute to fields beyond disciplinary boundaries.
In this pre-conference, we propose an in-depth reflection on the quality and significance of theoretical development in public relations scholarship. The aim is to discuss and reflect on what might be considered current theories of public relations and theories for public relations, as well as emerging bodies of work that are changing the shape of the field. We will consider their use, their ability to answer research questions of fundamental importance for the profession, their relevance to today's global problems, and the exploratory avenues of scholarship that could form the basis of new theorizing. Examples of questions relevant to this pre-conference are:
. What can be considered a classical or emergent public relations theory?. What are the field's grand theories and middle-range theories? How do they shape our thinking?. What are the emergent theories that can (re)define public relations?. What types of problems has public relations addressed and through which theoretical lenses has it addressed them? Do these approaches remain adequate? How might they evolve?. What should be the fundamental research questions which are capable of yielding theoretic development?. Why do public relations theories have limited impact beyond the field?. How does public relations theory need to evolve in order to become more widely recognized in organizational, media and communication scholarship?