Special issue of Public Relations Inquiry

Deadline: January, 31, 2026

Guest Editors

• Treena Clark University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
  
• Juli Holloway Indigenous communications practitioner, British Columbia, Canada
  
• Debashish Munshi University of Waikato, Aotearoa New Zealand

Whiteness, as an invisible default, continues to shape public relations, reinforcing power structures that marginalise Indigenous voices. Colonial-era tactics of division and control are evident even in contemporary public relations discourses that strategically promote Western hegemony. 

This special issue seeks contributions that interrogate this white Western privilege by centring Indigenous ways of being and knowing and building a foundation for future work by Indigenous communications scholars.

Indigenous public relations is grounded in cultural values, self-determination, and social change, aligning with critical, sociocultural, and decolonial perspectives. These approaches challenge power dynamics, capitalist frameworks, and the systemic privileging of whiteness.

With a focus on embedding Indigenous knowledge and professional practices in public relations scholarship, we welcome proposals from all parts of the world that amplify Indigenous voices, increase Indigenous representation within the profession, and foster genuine and lasting change in the way equitable public relations can be conceived.

Proposals may examine a variety of topics including:

• Indigenous epistemologies of building relationships
  
• Alternative frameworks of public relations built on Indigenous experiences
  
• Case studies of social movement campaigns led by Indigenous activists
  
• Analysis of Indigenous-led practice in communication industries
  
• Movements of resistance against settler colonialism, systemic occupation, and dispossession
  
• Indigenous-led theory and practice of critical public relations and public engagement
  
• Networks of solidarity between Indigenous communities and other marginalised groups
  
• Unique forms of Indigenous communication that align with public relations
  
• Historical insights of Indigenous forms of public relations and communications
  
• Indigenous-led approaches to free, prior informed consent
  

The special issue will feature peer-reviewed conceptual essays and research articles, based on any methodology. We will also consider shorter submissions in other genres such as reflective essays, interviews with activist-practitioners, or alternative forms of creative expressions. 

The deadline for submissions is 31 January 2026 (see the journal guidelines here). For enquiries about this Special Issue, please email Dr Treena Clark on Treena.Clark@uts.edu.au

More details: https://journals.sagepub.com/page/pri/callforpapers