Personalisation possibilities: A plea for subjective transparency through science, action research, and strategic communication

Abstract

This chapter suggests that, in seeking the status of a conventional science, public relations has suffered collateral damage by foregrounding outmoded approaches, assumptions, and methodologies. In particular, it contends that, because the main impact of science stems from notions of quantitative rigour and impersonal knowledge (often assumed to be overlapping), public relations marginalises issues around personalisation. In this, the field lags behind other disciplines, which from the early 20th century, have adapted to changing protocols around objectivity in post-quantum science and have followed feminism’s lead in accepting the personal as a valid part of scholarship. Indeed, rejecting views of subjectivity as an “impure” feature that must be excluded from pure research, scholars in certain fields (e.g., knowledge management; sociology of science) situate it as central to knowledge construction. Public relations, however, still lacks explicit engagement with such open acknowledgement of personal desires, personal interests, and personal investments, or what might be called subjective transparency. In conclusion, building on recent writings in action research and organisational communication, we propose future directions less inhibited by implicit claims to objectivity, and more open to acknowledging personal interests (including explicit commitments to justice issues declared upfront).