In the 1980s, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) became a key node in a vast network of political opposition against US foreign policy. In this article, we argue that these webs of political opposition constitute the geographies on which the public relations (PR) strategies deployed by CISPES were pursued and corresponding political opportunities were structured. We use newspaper analysis, interviews, and archival research to map three such networks in an effort to understand the changing climate in which CISPES pursued its political agenda during the 1980s. We conceptualize these networks as ‘networks of contention’ and contend that variations in these networks correspond to CISPES’ efforts to take advantage of unforeseeable political opportunities, which raised the profile of CISPES as well as its overall position as a radical activist organization opposing the Reagan government. We conclude by arguing that an attention to networks of contention is necessary for understanding both the strategies and tactics pursued by PR activists and the political opportunities that shape those tactics and strategies. Our analysis is sympathetic with the sociocultural ‘turn’ in the PR theory that assesses structural and contextual constraints on the strategies and tactics deployed by PR professionals. In the end, this article argues that the networks of contention that organizations find themselves in during particular moments of political crisis play a key role in shaping the kinds of strategies and tactics available to pursue them. We also contend that the collision between relationship management strategies and the contexts in which they are embedded suggests that the tactics and strategies pursued by PR professionals have to be embedded in and are structured by perpetually changing sociopolitical environments, which often refuse management and require constant strategic adaptation and flexibility.

中文翻译：

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激进竞争的网络：结构条件与委员会中的公共关系策略和战术之间的共构关系，声援萨尔瓦多人民

在1980年代，声援萨尔瓦多人民委员会（CISPES）成为反对美国外交政策的广泛政治反对派网络中的关键节点。在本文中，我们认为，这些政治反对派网络构成了地理区域，在这些区域上，CISPES部署了公共关系（PR）策略，并构建了相应的政治机会。我们使用报纸分析，采访和档案研究来绘制三个这样的网络，以了解CISPES在1980年代追求其政治议程的不断变化的气候。我们将这些网络概念化为“竞争网络”，并认为这些网络中的变化与CISPES为利用不可预见的政治机会而做出的努力相对应，这提高了CISPES的形象以及其作为反对里根政府的激进激进组织的整体地位。我们通过争论得出结论，对于理解公关活动主义者所追求的策略和策略以及塑造这些策略和策略的政治机遇，必须关注争用网络。我们的分析与公关理论中的社会文化“转向”是共鸣的，该理论评估了公关专业人员所采用的策略和策略的结构性和背景性约束。最后，本文认为，组织在政治危机的特定时刻所处的竞争网络在塑造可用于追求这些战略和策略的战略中起着关键作用。