Exploring the evolution of Public Relations in post-communist Romanian book publishing industry: a historical and sociological approach

There is little scholarly research on the history of public relations in post-communist Romania with few exceptions (Dolea, 2012; Rogojinaru, 2009, 2014). This study aims is to fill the gap and explore the historical reconstruction public relations’ development and role in the book publishing industry. This particular industry was chosen as it is considered emblematic for the effects of the Communist regime on a society: lowest book consumption in Europe with 1 book per capita per year (Barbu, 2015), almost half of the population has not read even a book during an entire year (Eurobarometer Cultural access and participation, 2013), while almost 40% of Romanian high school students have difficulties in reading and understanding a text for the first time (Programme for International Students Assessment, 2012). Building on social construction theory (Berger & Luckmann, 1966/2008) and, methodologically, on the historical sociology approach (L’Etang, 2004, 2014), this study explores the intertwined relations between different actors, practices and structures of public relations in an industry which aims to increase book consumption and reading habits. Moreover, it places these intertwined relationships within a historical context, tracing the evolutions of public relations in book publishing industry during a quarter of a century. This exploratory study shows how the industry itself witnessed a rebirth after decades of Communism, censorship and control. Consequently, public relations has followed a late and slow process of institutionalization and professionalization: the role of public relations has been largely technical, supporting marketing and sales through events management and editing press materials; it is after 2010 that the strategic, managerial role of public relations has started to be slowly understood, initially by (some) practitioners themselves, then by (some) directors of top publishing houses. Public relations is still in a legitimization phase aiming for recognition, professionalization and a greater role both within their organizations and within society. Moreover, if public relations practitioners would understand and assume a social role (focusing on public interest), they could influence, through public communication campaigns, public policies to address functional illiteracy; ultimately, these would be beneficial for both the book industry and their own organizations

Disruption and creativity in shaping a country image and identity through citizen diplomacy: The 2017 protests in Romania

In February 2017 Romania made headlines in major international media across the globe: during an entire month massive anti-corruption protests took place almost daily across the country. There were the largest protests since the fall of the communist regime in December 1989 and were triggered by a government’s decree to decriminalize abuse in office by officials if the sums were less than circa 45.000 euro. In reporting about the protests, the international media covered extensively aspects such as: (1) the civic nature of the protests (high rate of engagement among citizens in order to make their voice heard); (2) the use of social media for the organization of the protests (Facebook events, #rezist, etc); (3) the creative use of digital technologies during the protests (wall projections, mobile phone lights to recreate the national flag and the EU flag); (4) the creativity of the posters created by protesters (initially in Romanian, then in English in order to be understood by international audiences); (5) setting an example in Europe for how citizens stand up for democratic values, fight corruption and mobilize (Romania was considered the last country in the region to fight populism, while protests in France are legitimizing from the Romanian ones, etc). Main research question: Can protests be a form of citizen diplomacy, generating alternative discourses about the country image and identity? Methodology: Historical reconstitution & chronology of events; Exploratory corpus of data for January 18 - February 28, 2017 in the Facebook community “Coruptia ucide” (posts and events). Findings: Protests became a form of citizen diplomacy, indirectly, through a gradual process of social construction (stages intersect & influence each other) Conclusion: Protests gain international relevance due to appeal to universal democratic values. Protesters become aware of their symbolic soft power and strategically instrumentalize creativity and humour to gain international benevolence. They generate alternative discourses about Romania - creative country, the hope from East Europe. The results of this study contribute to the understanding of how non state actors are increasingly engaging in strategic campaigns of promoting their country and how social movements become opportunities for generating alternative discourses about a country and about its national identity

The Impact of Migration on the Construction of Romania's Country Image: Two Intersecting Public Problems

In Romania, the promotion of the country image has been a recurrent topic on the public agenda after the fall of Communism. Ever since, the governmental campaigns, initiatives or slogans meant to promote and communicate Romania to the world generated so many heated debates that the country’s image eventually became a public problem. After the country joined the European Union these debates about the country’s image started to be closely linked with the increased wave of Romanian migration towards Western Europe. Migrants have become both resource of positive visibility and image crisis for Romania due to their behaviours and actions in the destination countries. This chapter draws a longitudinal analysis of the gradual interconnected construction of Romania’s country image and migration as public problems: it identifies several stages (between 1990 and 2010) when the government played a key role and more recent developments (between 2010 and 2015), when various non-state actors seize the opportunity for increased visibility and instrumentalize the two public problems in brand communication campaigns. Thus, it is showed how the different stages in the construction of these public problems have reconfigured over time and, especially, the impact of migration on the construction of Romania's country image

Transnational diaspora diplomacy, emotions and COVID-19: The Romanian Diaspora in the UK

The COVID-19 pandemic has legitimized diaspora as a transnational actor in its own right. Diasporas might be agents, instruments, and partners in public diplomacy, but they can also be disruptors. Romanian diaspora’s othering, in-betweenness, and neglected emotions have been stirred and politically instrumentalized in votes for a Romanian far-right party. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed irreversibly for expanding disciplinary boundaries to study diaspora diplomacy (Brinkerhoff, 2019; Ho & McConnell, 2017). Diaspora was placed in unprecedented global spotlight, revealing a wide range of positionings in relation to home and host state. To understand these developments, public diplomacy (PD) needs a shift of focus: a diaspora-centred and transnational analytical approach to unpack the seeming ‘uniformity’ of diaspora and the homeland loyalties conflated in the concept of citizen diplomat that obscure contestation from within. Diasporas might be agents, instruments, and partners in PD, but they are also disruptors. Diasporas generate disruption and become a problem in PD, exposing the tensions, conflicts, protests emerging from domestic (and transnational) publics that PD scholarship has largely avoided. I will use this approach in a case study of the Romanian diaspora in the UK, informed by a research project conducted between 2018 and 2019

The Invisible Luggage of the Displaced: Emotions, Trauma and Public Diplomacy.

All displaced people, be it refugees, migrants, or expatriates, experience a sense of loss and trauma. Ukrainians crossing the border to take refuge across Europe carry with them this emotional luggage that shapes their identity and influences their integration in their new host places. Yet, the consequences of this invisible luggage have been rarely scrutinized in depth in public diplomacy and even in diaspora diplomacy scholarship. I draw on the psychoanalytical work of Vamik Volkan to shed some light on the psychology of Ukrainian refugees and the reactions of Romanians as host population. I argue a greater engagement with studies of emotions in international relations and political psychology could shape a research agenda that addresses the role of emotions and trauma in a world shaken by many crises

Diaspora diplomacy, emotions, and disruption: A conceptual and analytical framework

The article advances diaspora diplomacy scholarship arguing that enabling as well as disruptive emotions mediate diaspora assemblages comprising states, transnational non-state actors and other international actors; and that diasporic agency, practices and discourses can’t be fully analysed and understood if divorced from their underpinning emotions. After reviewing existing literatures and current gaps, I propose a theoretical and analytical framework to study diaspora diplomacy that links (1) identity, belonging and transnational ties in diaspora, (2) with media and the digital nature of diasporas, (3) adopts the distinction between diaspora as category of analysis (entity) and category of practice (Brubaker, 2005; 2017), and (4) integrates emotions and discourses. I then apply this framework to a corpus of 21 semi-structured interviews with representatives of the Romanian diaspora organizations in the UK to explore how they define their (emotional) ties with home and host state, and how they construct their identity. Recommendations and further reflections are formulated in the end to inform policy making in diaspora diplomacy

25 years of PR in Romanian book sector: A short history of institutionalization and professionalization

The book is a cultural consumption good whose adoption supposes performing a constant negotiation game between promotion industries and consumers. In Romania, book sector is highly competitive and unbalanced, as the publishing houses, the main actors, are complaining constantly of a constant and even dramatic decrease of sales. In the same time, Romania is being perceived internationally as having a 98% of adult literacy and being ranked 21st in the world with 15,000 items published every year. Starting from these contradictory situations, this paper looks at the gradual process of institutionalization and professionalization of public relations within the Romanian book sector after 1989. The aim of this paper is to show the historical stages of PR development from the promotion of books through promotional practices (mainly ads and distribution of new titles to key cultural journalists and critiques), events (the traditional book fairs and book launches) to the current strategic use of public relations (integrated communication campaigns, new media strategies, start of CSR programs by publishing houses). In addition, to investigate in depth the current stage of PR on Romanian book sector, we first realize a profile of the organizational communication in the case of three Romanian publishing houses chosen according to three key criteria (dimension, financial capacity, consumer perception of reputation). Using the case study method, we analyze the organizational communication of each publishing house, as it is conceived and implemented by the internal public relations specialists employed. Secondly, we conduct a comparative analysis in function of specific items: the relevance of PR for the management, the responsibilities of the PR specialist, the dominant model of communication. Considering the communication strategy as a comparative major item, we are also interested in analyzing the way that the three publishing houses address new audiences, how they relate with young publics and, most important, which is the role of research in communicating with young audiences. Our interest in young segment has become relevant as main Romanian publishing houses are complaining about the decrease of reading frequency on young readers segment (teenagers and university students). Having as basis these analyses (profile and comparison), we will draw the main characteristics of the current state of public relations in book sector. Summing up, this paper is the first to review the 25 years PR in the Romanian book sector, establishing a typology of most used technics and instruments of book promotion and revealing the evolution in terms of understanding and practicing PR in this quarter of century on a market that is constantly growing and is key to the development of a society

Threats, truths and strategies: the overlooked relationship between protests, nation branding and public diplomacy

Although protests are an essential part of modern politics, scholars in nation branding, public diplomacy and soft power have had very little to say about these episodes. Discussions in the field have only marginally addressed dissent and disruption, falling into a methodological statism that emphasises what states do to construct and legitimise specific versions of national identity. Debates on nation promotion consequently overlook how individuals and organisations outside the state and outside national boundaries can be equally important in the construction and communication of national images. Drawing on domestic and foreign news coverage of protests in Brazil, Romania and Chile, we propose three frames to analyse the relationship between protests and nation promotion: (1) protests as threats, (2) protests as expression of the true nation, and (3) protests as strategic communications. These frames shed light on how bottom-up efforts contest –overtly or covertly– state-sponsored versions of national identity, and how protests are visibility arenas where competing discourses about the nation are communicated. Protests should therefore be acknowledged not as mere disruptions to national images or reputations, but as another expression of the contingent, multifaceted, and shifting nature of nationhood, particularly in highly mediatised contemporary societies