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On Berger : If Peter Berger were doing public relations - A social constructionist perspective on crisis communication

Heide, Mats LU orcid (2018) p.215-232
Abstract

In this chapter I propose a social constructionist perspective on public relations, and will particularly focus on crisis communication as an important sub-field, with inspiration from the American sociologist Peter L. Berger. Berger is most well-known for the book The Social Construction of Reality (1966), co-authored with the German sociologist Thomas Luckmann. This book has had a fundamental impact on the development of social sciences, and introduced an alternative understanding of how knowledge, and especially knowledge of everyday reality, is constructed in social interactions and is part of the interplay between the individual and society. Berger and Luckmann introduced the term “social construction” in social science, which... (More)

In this chapter I propose a social constructionist perspective on public relations, and will particularly focus on crisis communication as an important sub-field, with inspiration from the American sociologist Peter L. Berger. Berger is most well-known for the book The Social Construction of Reality (1966), co-authored with the German sociologist Thomas Luckmann. This book has had a fundamental impact on the development of social sciences, and introduced an alternative understanding of how knowledge, and especially knowledge of everyday reality, is constructed in social interactions and is part of the interplay between the individual and society. Berger and Luckmann introduced the term “social construction” in social science, which stands in contrast to the positivistic belief in one objective, “real” reality “out there” that is possible to measure and describe with scientific methods. Instead, it is argued that people’s understanding of the reality influences their behavior and knowledge. This idea goes back to the American sociologist William Isaac Thomas who in 1928 formulated a fundamental principle of sociology - the Thomas theorem: “if men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” (Merton, 1995, p. 380). Hence, there are several and, often, competing realities socially constructed by humans.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Public Relations and Social Theory : Key Figures, Concepts and Developments - Key Figures, Concepts and Developments
editor
Ihlen, Øyvind and Fredriksson, Magnus
edition
2
pages
18 pages
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:85049628533
ISBN
9781138281295
9781351984461
DOI
10.4324/9781315271231
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7f6dabf3-46b6-4c94-a7eb-9ec8c7f7cb06
date added to LUP
2016-04-29 09:38:24
date last changed
2024-03-06 21:32:11
@inbook{7f6dabf3-46b6-4c94-a7eb-9ec8c7f7cb06,
  abstract     = {{<p>In this chapter I propose a social constructionist perspective on public relations, and will particularly focus on crisis communication as an important sub-field, with inspiration from the American sociologist Peter L. Berger. Berger is most well-known for the book The Social Construction of Reality (1966), co-authored with the German sociologist Thomas Luckmann. This book has had a fundamental impact on the development of social sciences, and introduced an alternative understanding of how knowledge, and especially knowledge of everyday reality, is constructed in social interactions and is part of the interplay between the individual and society. Berger and Luckmann introduced the term “social construction” in social science, which stands in contrast to the positivistic belief in one objective, “real” reality “out there” that is possible to measure and describe with scientific methods. Instead, it is argued that people’s understanding of the reality influences their behavior and knowledge. This idea goes back to the American sociologist William Isaac Thomas who in 1928 formulated a fundamental principle of sociology - the Thomas theorem: “if men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” (Merton, 1995, p. 380). Hence, there are several and, often, competing realities socially constructed by humans.</p>}},
  author       = {{Heide, Mats}},
  booktitle    = {{Public Relations and Social Theory : Key Figures, Concepts and Developments}},
  editor       = {{Ihlen, Øyvind and Fredriksson, Magnus}},
  isbn         = {{9781138281295}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  pages        = {{215--232}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  title        = {{On Berger : If Peter Berger were doing public relations - A social constructionist perspective on crisis communication}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315271231}},
  doi          = {{10.4324/9781315271231}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}