Institutional Racism in Cultural Production: The Case of Public Relations

This article explores the institutionalized nature of racism in public relations (PR) in the United Kingdom, a situation that originates in the occupation's history and continues to disadvantage PR practitioners from Black, Asian, and other minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. Drawing on a qualitative study of the experiences of BAME PR practitioners, I consider how institutional racism makes itself felt in their professional lives and the strategies they use to address it. My central argument is that institutional racism operates across the PR industry, potentially affecting their mediation of culture both within and beyond the context of cultural production.