Converging on harmony

Abstract

A growing number of frameworks for envisioning and enacting public relations posit social harmony as a core goal of the discipline. Such frameworks include two-way symmetry, communitarianism, fully functioning society theory, Isocratean rhetoric, and aspects of the reflective paradigm. A goal of social harmony, however, has been challenged as being overly idealistic, utopian, and incongruous with the competitive nature of human beings and organizations. This article examines the evolutionary biological theories of Charles Darwin and Peter Kropotkin – in particular, Kropotkin’s theory of mutual aid – and details their conclusion that the processes of natural selection favor communities built upon cooperation rather than competition. The processes of evolution and natural selection thus provide a scientific foundation for a goal of social harmony within public relations frameworks.