Abstract Societies are increasingly characterized by polarization and fragmentation on a variety of socio-political issues. With the heightened social visibility of corporations, as a result of processes of mediatization, firms are pressured to engage with such social issues that are part of broader political discourses. Against the backdrop of these broad socio-political shifts, this study conceptually addresses the contribution of public relations to understanding the politicization of corporations and their environment. We argue that corporations have become inherently intertwined with their mediatized and polarized socio-political surroundings. As a result, corporations are increasingly pressured to speak out and take a stance on social issues to engage with their environment and renew their social license to operate (SLO) in a context characterized by political divides. By relying on concepts like issue arenas and corporate political advocacy, we argue that corporations can use public relations to publicly promote one ideal over another, by being guided by the corporation’s own intrinsic values and moral standpoints rather than efforts to balance competing interests of multiple stakeholders.

中文翻译：

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公司及其环境的政治化：公司在两极分化和媒体化社会中运营的社会许可

摘要 社会在各种社会政治问题上越来越呈现两极分化和分裂的特征。随着企业社会知名度的提高，作为中介化过程的结果，企业被迫参与作为更广泛政治话语一部分的此类社会问题。在这些广泛的社会政治转变的背景下，本研究从概念上探讨了公共关系对理解公司及其环境政治化的贡献。我们认为，公司已经与它们的中介化和两极分化的社会政治环境固有地交织在一起。因此，在以政治分歧为特征的背景下，企业越来越被迫在社会问题上发表意见并采取立场，以与环境互动并更新其社会经营许可 (SLO)。通过依赖问题领域和公司政治倡导等概念，我们认为公司可以通过公共关系以公司自身的内在价值观和道德立场为指导，而不是努力平衡多个利益相关者的竞争利益，从而公开宣传一种理想而不是另一种理想。 .