Discourse, credentialism and occupational closure in the communications industries: The case of public relations in the UK

Edwards, Lee ORCID: 0000-0001-6542-1234 (2014) Discourse, credentialism and occupational closure in the communications industries: The case of public relations in the UK. European Journal of Communication, 29 (3). pp. 319-334. ISSN 0267-3231

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Abstract

This article addresses the problem of stubbornly low levels of diversity in the communications industries, using the case of public relations to illustrate the points made. The author explores how disciplinary discourses of occupational practice and identity combine with representations of normative embodiment to construct and communicate a system of informal credentialism in the field that marginalises certain identities. Through a critical discourse analysis of formal texts that circulate across the industry, the author illustrates how apparently value-neutral presentations of PR work and workers exclude BME and working-class practitioners who cannot easily demonstrate a natural ‘fit’ with client, consultancy or colleague. The findings illustrate how the construction of informal credentialism through discourse may be acting as a powerful source of closure across the communications industries.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ejc
Additional Information:	© 2014 Sage
Divisions:	Media and Communications
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics
Date Deposited:	07 Nov 2017 10:56
Last Modified:	21 Nov 2024 05:36
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/85095

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