ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates a number of perspectives of public relations historiography and in doing so attempts to look at the development of corporate and brand-led communications, alongside the active promotion of ideas and actions by social and non-for-profit groups. The central focus here is the notion that public relations is always purposeful, and that it has the ideas and objectives of the entity it represents at the heart of its practice, but this may not necessarily be corporatist in nature. The chapter seeks to underpin an activist understanding of public relations as a driver of change activity, both within and outside of organisations. The book later presents an argument that these two aspects of public relations activity place the professional well to deal with the interactive, engagement-orientated requirements of 21st century digital brand communications (whether in the commercial or non-for-profit sector).
