John Dewey and the ‘P’ in Public Relations

John Dewey indir­ectly put the ‘P’ in pub­lic relations.

A tor­rent of change swept through the United States in the late 19^th and early 20^th cen­tur­ies. The American psy­cho­lo­gist and philo­soph­er John Dewey (1859 – 1952) emerged amid this tumult.

Dewey was a prag­mat­ic philo­soph­er whose con­tri­bu­tions to edu­ca­tion and philo­sophy are widely recog­nized and cel­eb­rated, but his impact on pub­lic rela­tions is less known.

Dewey’s concept of “pub­lics” has become a found­a­tion in the study and prac­tice of pub­lic relations. 

Here we go:

John Dewey and the ‘P’ in Public Relations

The term “pub­lics” can be traced back to the work of the American psy­cho­lo­gist and philo­soph­er John Dewey (1859 – 1952). ¹John Dewey. (2023, March 25). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​J​o​h​n​_​D​e​wey

In his 1927 book, “The Public and Its Problems,” Dewey con­cep­tu­al­ised pub­lics as situ­ation­al groups formed in response to shared con­cerns or issues. He pos­ited that these groups emerge when indi­vidu­als con­front a com­mon prob­lem, recog­nise its exist­ence, and take col­lect­ive action to address it. ²Dewey, J. (1927). The Public and Its Problems. Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press.

“Dewey’s the­ory of the pub­lic sphere recog­nizes mul­tiple pub­lics and per­meable bor­ders between pub­lic and private, with com­mu­nic­a­tion play­ing a cru­cial role in pub­lic form­a­tion and re-form­a­tion.”
Source: Argumentation and Advocacy ³Asen, R. (2003). The Multiple Mr. Dewey: Multiple Publics and Permeable Borders in John Dewey’s Theory of the Public Sphere. Argumentation and Advocacy, 39, 174 — 188. … Continue read­ing

Dewey’s for­mu­la­tion of pub­lics marked a sig­ni­fic­ant depar­ture from the tra­di­tion­al under­stand­ing of the “mass pub­lic,” which assumed a more homo­gen­eous and pass­ive audience. 

By high­light­ing the situ­ation­al and dynam­ic nature of pub­lics, Dewey laid the found­a­tion for a more nuanced and adapt­ive approach to under­stand­ing the com­plex inter­ac­tions between organ­isa­tions and their vari­ous audiences.

The term pub­lics has become a corner­stone of mod­ern pub­lic rela­tions and com­mu­nic­a­tion theory.

This under­stand­ing of pub­lics as situ­ation­al and ever-chan­ging high­lighted the need for organ­isa­tions to remain agile and adapt­ive in their com­mu­nic­a­tion efforts.

By recog­nising the diverse and situ­ation­al nature of pub­lics, PR pro­fes­sion­als and com­mu­nic­at­ors can bet­ter under­stand the needs and con­cerns of their vari­ous audi­ences, allow­ing them to devel­op more effect­ive com­mu­nic­a­tion strategies. 

“This recog­ni­tion of the act­ive and dynam­ic nature of pub­lics has also influ­enced broad­er aca­dem­ic and pub­lic dis­course, high­light­ing the import­ance of under­stand­ing and enga­ging with dif­fer­ent groups of people who share com­mon interests, con­cerns, or prob­lems.”
Source: Contemporary Pragmatism ⁴Rogers, M. (2010). Introduction: Revisiting The Public and Its Problems. Contemporary Pragmatism, 7, 1 – 7. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​1​6​3​/​1​8​7​5​8​185 – 90000152

Learn more: John Dewey and the ‘P’ in Public Relations

Seriality: Context Matters

“Seriality” is a concept that emerges from iden­tity and social the­ory, par­tic­u­larly in the works of philo­soph­ers like Jean-Paul Sartre and Iris Marion Young. It refers to how indi­vidu­als are grouped based on shared char­ac­ter­ist­ics without a strong sense of belong­ing or identity.

Sartre argued that pass­ive col­lect­ives, like people wait­ing at a bus stop, only become act­ive when they recog­nise shared interests or struggle. Many pub­lics remain “seri­al” (inact­ive) until activ­ated by con­text. ⁵Sartre, J.-P. (1991). Critique of dia­lect­ic­al reas­on (Vol. 2, Q. Hoare, Trans.; A. Sheridan-Smith, Ed.). Verso. (Original work pub­lished 1985.) ⁶Silfwer, J. (2023, October 9). Five Types of Publics. Doctor Spin | The PR Blog. https://​doc​tor​spin​.net/​f​i​v​e​-​t​y​p​e​s​-​o​f​-​p​u​b​l​i​cs/

“Seriality is a key concept in under­stand­ing the con­stancy and trans­form­a­tion of iden­tity, par­tic­u­larly in pub­lic present­a­tions of the self and its online mani­fest­a­tions.”
Source: M/​C Journal ⁷Marshall, P. (2014). Seriality and Persona. M/​C Journal, 17, 1 – 10. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​5​2​0​4​/​m​c​j​.​802

In Sartre’s exist­en­tial­ist frame­work, seri­al­ity describes a form of social col­lectiv­ity. According to him, people can be part of a series without neces­sar­ily shar­ing a uni­fied group iden­tity. For example, people wait­ing at a bus stop are con­nec­ted by their shared situ­ation (wait­ing for the bus) but do not neces­sar­ily form a cohes­ive pub­lic with a shared iden­tity. They are sep­ar­ate indi­vidu­als linked by a com­mon object­ive or condition.

Key insights:

Seriality explains why some pub­lics remain inact­ive and frag­men­ted while oth­ers sud­denly unite and how con­text (media, con­flict, prox­im­ity, power struc­tures) determ­ines when, how, and why a group iden­tity “clicks” into place.

Therefore, seri­al­ity is a way of under­stand­ing how indi­vidu­als can belong to col­lect­ive cat­egor­ies without neces­sar­ily hav­ing a shared demo­graph­ic identity.

Learn more: Seriality (Context Matters)

The Publics in Public Relations

Publics are a cent­ral com­pon­ent of pub­lic rela­tions — in fact, the ‘P’ in PR. However, they are often mis­un­der­stood or con­flated with mar­ket­ing’s ‘tar­get groups’.

Here’s how to define pub­lics in pub­lic relations:

Publics = psy­cho­graph­ic seg­ments (who) with sim­il­ar com­mu­nic­a­tion beha­viours (how) formed around spe­cif­ic issues (why) impact­ing a brand (to whom). ¹⁰Silfwer, J. (2015, June 11). The Publics in Public Relations. Doctor Spin | The PR Blog. https://​doc​tor​spin​.net/​p​u​b​l​i​c​s​-​i​n​-​p​u​b​l​i​c​-​r​e​l​a​t​i​o​ns/

Please note:

Psychographic seg­ment = sim­il­ar­it­ies in cog­nit­ive driv­ing factors such as reas­on­ing, motiv­a­tions, atti­tudes, etc.

Communication beha­viours = how the pub­lic’s opin­ion is expressed (choice of mes­sage, rhet­or­ic­al fram­ing, and medi­um type).

Specific issue = determ­ined situ­ation­ally by a spe­cif­ic social object, often high on the agenda in news media or social media.

Learn more: The Publics in Public Relations

THANKS FOR READING.
Need PR help? Hire me here.

What should you study next?

Spin Academy | Online PR Courses

Influencing PR: Notable Contributors

It’s noted that the gender bias is appar­ent here. I’m cur­rently research­ing a more bal­anced list.

Public Relations Contributors

• Edward Bernays — The Father of PR
• Ivy Lee and the First Press Release
• P.T. Barnum: “There’s No Such Thing as Bad Publicity”
• Walter Lippmann and Public Opinion
• John Dewey and the ‘P’ in Public Relations
• Marshall McLuhan: “The Medium is the Message”
• Leon Festinger — The Psychologist Behind Cognitive Dissonance
• Shep Gordon: “Make Parents Angry”

Learn more: All Free PR Courses

💡 Subscribe and get a free ebook on how to get bet­ter PR.