The Resurrection of Modernistic Public Relations – a Metamodern Perspective

Abstract

It is posited that the Covid-19 crisis proved to even the most dedicated modernist that long-term macro-public relations strategies, imbedded in modernistic public relations practices, will no longer suffice. Equally problematic, however, is a purely postmodern perspective with its criticism of closure, certainty and control in business environments subjected to predominantly modernistic management styles. An alternative paradigm has become necessary. The purpose of this paper is thus to address the tension between the two dominant paradigms in public relations practice, namely modernism and postmodernism, by introducing metamodernism as a new perspective. A qualitative, interpretivist approach was followed by exploring and analysing existing literature on the use of metamodernism in the field of public relations. It is argued that modernistic public relations perspectives still have relevance when applied from a metamodern perspective. It is suggested that a metamodern worldview will provide public relations practitioners with a new paradigm, uniting both modernistic and postmodernistic perspectives into creative solutions.