Handbook of Strategic Communication

Presents cocreational perspectives on current international practices and theories relevant to strategic communication

The Handbook of Strategic Communication brings together work from leading scholars and practitioners in the field to explore the many practical, national and cultural differences in modern approaches to strategic communication. Designed to provide a coherent understanding of strategic communication across various subfields, this authoritative volume familiarizes practitioners, researchers, and advanced students with an inclusive range of international practices, current theories, and contemporary debates and issues in this dynamic, multidisciplinary field.

This Handbook covers an expansive range of strategic communication models, theories, and applications, comprising two dozen in-depth chapters written by international scholars and practitioners. In-depth essays discuss the three core areas of strategic communication—public relations, marketing communication, and health communication—and their many subfields, such as political communication, issues management, crisis and risk communication, environmental and science communication, public diplomacy, disaster management, strategic communication for social movements and religious communities, and many others. This timely volume:

• Challenges common assumptions about the narrowness of strategic communication
• Highlights ongoing efforts to unify the understanding and practice of strategic communication across a range of subfields
• Discusses models and theories applied to diverse areas such as conflict resolution, research and evaluation, tobacco control, climate change, and counter terrorism strategic communication
• Examines current research and models of strategic communication, such as the application of the CAUSE Model to climate change communication
• Explores strategic communication approaches in various international contexts, including patient-oriented healthcare in Russia, road and tunnel safety in Norway, public sector communication in Turkey, and ethical conflict resolution in Guatemala

The Handbook of Strategic Communication is an indispensable resource for practitioners, researchers, scholars, and students involved in any aspect of strategic communication across its many subfields.

Carl H. Botan is Professor of Communication at George Mason University, Virginia, USA. He is the author of Strategic Communication Theory and Practice: The Cocreational View, the first known theoretic book on strategic communication and its applications. Dr Botan has won numerous awards, including the Public Relations Institute of Australia’s Outstanding Practitioner-Scholar Award and the Outstanding Research Achievement Award in Public Relations Scholarship. He has served on the National Curriculum Commissions for Public Relations in both the United States and in Australia, has taught strategic communication/social marketing for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Health’s Office of Women’s Health.