Challenge or resist dominant discourses: Authenticity as a strategic component of activist public relations

Abstract

Although there is evidence that perceived authenticity has a positive impact on corporate reputation, the implications of authenticity in activist communication for social change have not been addressed. Within a sociocultural theoretical approach this paper provides an ethnographic account of how and why human rights activists enact authenticity and aims to better understand the implications of authenticity in activist communication oriented towards social change. An ethnographic study was carried out during 6 months, with two human rights activist organizations. In addition to participant observation, documents produced by the organizations were also analyzed and twenty-five semi-structured interviews were carried out. The role of authenticity in the public relations activities of this organizations was observed at two main levels: (a) as an intentional strategic choice and, (b) as a challenge or resistance to dominant discourses. Findings place authenticity as a strategic component of activist public relations illustrating the contributions of the field for civic participation dynamics.