Queering Public Relations

This book introduces a fresh, critical perspective that expands the conceptual frameworks traditionally employed in PR research. It interrogates the field’s embeddedness within capitalist, market-oriented systems, which often prioritize profit, brand management, and market expansion. A queer lens examines how PR practices serve market logics that commodify identities, turning diverse experiences into marketable categories.

This book critiques the normative biases undergirding contemporary PR scholarship and practices. By queering PR, the book highlights fractures in how certain groups, identities and lives are represented (or invisible) in media and communication. It challenges the field to rethink logics of inclusivity, representation, and advocacy, particularly in how non-dominant identities, are constructed and communicated in public spheres, serving as a counterpoint to the corporate-driven, homogenized narratives that dominate PR.

Drawing on queer theory, this book will particularly resonate with scholars involved in critical public relations and communication studies, gender studies, queer theory, cultural and media studies, and ethical business practices.