Abstract A critical, socio-cultural turn in the public relations research agenda has shifted attention away from a predominately organisational focus to include the individual practitioner, and their symbolic power relationships (Curtin & Gaither, 2005). This has resulted in critical interrogation of issues such as dissent, power and activism in professional role enactment with an emergent, activist stance that actively questions and resists existing power structures and normative practices (Holtzhausen, 2012). This turn requires PR as well as in a diverse range of other disciplines to find new forms of addressing some of the wicked problems of our time, such as the social and cultural influences that public relations practitioners are subject to in enacting culturally sensitive public relations roles in their practice. The positioning of the critical-cultural and postmodern paradigms lends itself to the application of social representation theory (SRT) as a framework for analysis and understanding (Bauer & Gaskell, 2008; p. 351). However, to date limited research has been conducted on the social influences public relations practitioners are subject to in enacting culturally sensitive public relations roles in their practice, especially in respect of public relations practitioners who occupy junior to mid-level positions in formal employment contexts. In particular, individual influence and agency of entry level or early career public relations practitioners in South Africa has been under researched. It is against this background that this study aims to determine the perceptions of early-mid career South African PRPs on how they socially represent their activism in a poly-contextual and diverse cultural context. This is especially important in a context where PRPs are required to justify the value their actions have in achieving social change. The findings suggest that South African activist public relations practitioner (PRP) role enactment may not only entail promoting the interests of those who are marginalised and excluded from social contexts, but also requires advocating for the legitimacy of their own activist role in their contexts of practice.

中文翻译：

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公关行动主义的社会代表性：南非早期职业公共关系专业人士的看法

摘要 公共关系研究议程中一个关键的社会文化转变已将注意力从主要的组织焦点转移到包括个体从业者及其象征性的权力关系（Curtin & Gaither，2005 年）。这导致了对职业角色制定中的异议、权力和激进主义等问题的批判性审讯，以一种新兴的激进主义立场积极质疑和抵制现有的权力结构和规范实践（Holtzhausen，2012 年）。这一转变要求公关以及其他各种学科找到解决我们这个时代一些棘手问题的新形式，例如公共关系从业人员在扮演文化敏感的公共关系角色时所受到的社会和文化影响在他们的实践中。批判文化和后现代范式的定位有助于将社会表征理论 (SRT) 应用为分析和理解的框架（Bauer & Gaskell, 2008; p. 351）。然而，迄今为止，关于公共关系从业者在其实践中扮演文化敏感的公共关系角色所受到的社会影响的研究有限，特别是对于在正式就业环境中担任初级到中级职位的公共关系从业者。特别是，南非的入门级或早期职业公共关系从业者的个人影响力和代理正在研究中。正是在这种背景下，本研究旨在确定中早期南非 PRP 对他们如何在多语境和多元化文化背景下在社会上代表他们的激进主义的看法。在要求 PRP 证明其行动在实现社会变革方面的价值的背景下，这一点尤其重要。研究结果表明，南非激进主义公共关系从业者 (PRP) 角色制定可能不仅需要促进那些被边缘化和被排斥在社会环境之外的人的利益，而且还需要倡导他们自己在实践环境中的激进主义角色的合法性.