Civil Society and Public Relations: Not So Civil After All

Abstract

Recent articles appearing in communication outlets such as Human Communication Research and Public Relations Review celebrate the emancipatory power of civil society projects as the solution to the primitive forms of totalitarian governance in Third World nations, suggesting the central role of public relations scholars and practitioners in development communication. Having embraced the mantra of civil society, these public relations scholars suggest that the concept of civil society offers a paradigm shift in the field of development communication by facilitating "true" participatory communication. This article takes a critical approach to the rhetoric of civil society and points out that the civil society trope is not a novel innovation in the field of development communication. Using the narratives of the Philippines, Chile, and Nicaragua, it is demonstrated that civil society serves the goals of the transnational elite and actively participates in the marginalization of the Third World participant; the subaltern subject in the Third World exists outside the realm of civil society in its cracks and fissures. The author takes a political economic approach to problematize civil society efforts and draw out the linkages among civil society, colonialism, and transnational market hegemony. Finally, subaltern studies are offered as an alternative point for communication scholars interested in understanding the communicative practices in the marginalized spaces of the world.