Permeating nearly all areas of public life, from politics to consumption to the media, the Public Relations industry has become an integral cog in the machine of contemporary society. Written in an accessible style by a leading authority on PR, this is the leading introduction to Public Relations theory. In it, Lee Edwards explores the place of PR in its various social, cultural and political contexts. This book: Introduces readers to the `socio-cultural' approach in Public Relations, not merely presenting the `how-to' of PR practice, but encouraging a deeper understanding of its influence on societyConsiders PR in relation to issues of globalization, democracy, race and genderPresents boxed case studies to demonstrate the application of theory in a range of local and global contexts, including campaigns for same sex marriage, the fair trade movement, and PR in the 2016 EU referendum in the UK The first book of its kind comprehensively to cover socio-cultural approaches to PR, this book is an invaluable resource to students and scholars in media studies, business and management, political communications and beyond.