Abstract: Community engagement is a means of maintaining and enhancing organization-community relationships by communication and interaction , . Dialogic-based engagement approaches facilitate understanding, involvement, and the exchange of opinions about a concept. In a community setting, engagement is therefore an important means through which community members can have a voice about an issue or organizational decision that is actually or potentially affecting their community. The success and effectiveness of community engagement is thus founded on empowering community members to provide their views and opinions, with practitioners charged with facilitating this process for social good . Love and Tilley however, caution that as a term, engagement has the potential to legitimize “practices of engineering public consent” (p. 34). Earlier, Motion called for engagement practices to “acknowledge vested interests, recognize conflict, and encourage marginalized critical discourses” (p. 505). These ‘marginalized critical discourses’ are often community voices that are rendered inaudible against a backdrop of louder—and arguably more powerful—voices. These ‘silent voices’ present a key challenge for practitioners committed to ensuring the legitimacy of the community engagement processes for which they are responsible. How can these silent voices be heard? Drawing on theoretical foundations of power and voice, this paper addresses a key research question: how are silent voices conceptualized in engagement practice? Based on inductive analysis of in-depth semi-structured interviews with contemporary public relations practitioners, findings suggest that identifying and incorporating silent voices is a critical—but ironically overlooked—component of a community engagement framework. This paper goes on to suggest ways in which silent voices in the community can be heard and responded to through engagement.
Publication Year: 2018
Publication Date: 2018-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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