Labor activism without borders: Re-thinking activism in Public Relations in the context of offshore labor
Abstract
My dissertation problematizes the role Public Relations plays in the issues of marginalization and resistance in the context of neoliberal globalization, and offers an alternative way of PR theorizing through listening to the voices of marginalized publics. Using culture-centered approach as a conceptual framework, I use the tools of co-constructed dialogue and reflexivity in conducting fieldwork with one particular marginalized group—industrial workers in offshore subcontracting factories in China—and their lived experiences at the intersection of cultural practices, structural barriers and agentic acts of resistance. I explore industrial workers experiences vis-à-vis globalized subcontracting production through four themes: a) Workers as migrants, b) Life at the margins of production, c) Mediated Relationships: Romantic life, marriage and children, and d) Relationships in the factory: Oppression, resistance and co-optation. From these narrative articulations and reflexive engagement with my own values and assumptions, I interrogated some of the metatheoretical assumptions rooted in the knowledge production processes in PR, including the conceptualization of publics and relations. These new understandings not only offer new lenses to look at the role of PR in issues of globalization, marginalization and activism, but they also open up opportunity for PR to become activism for marginalized groups by giving voice to them.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Dutta, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Marketing|Communication|Labor relations
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