This study challenges the validity of a role for public relations (PR) as ‘trust strategist’ in global financial markets, by reframing trust, power and PR. The reframing takes place in three stages: First, by shifting the trajectory of PR research to focus on Giddens’s system trust theory, which, until now, has received little prominence in PR scholarship. Second, by drawing on Foucauldian perspectives to link system trust relations and power relations through discourse; revealing the strategies and practices used to produce trust in global discourses. Third, by locating PR activity within discursive moments of trust/mistrust production, repositioning PR as a ‘trust intermediary’ in global discourses.
BenteleGSeidenglanzR (2008) Trust and credibility – prerequisites for communication management. In: ZerfassAvan RulerBSrirameshK (eds) Public Relations: European and International Perspectives and Innovations. VS Verlag Fur SozialWissenschafeten, pp.49–62.
7.
BenteleGWehmeierS (2003) From literary bureaus to a modern profession. In: SrirameshKVerčičD (eds) The Global Public Relations Handbook. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp.199–221.
8.
BiltereystD (2004) Public service broadcasting, popular entertainment and the construction of trust. European Journal of Cultural Studies7: 341–362.
9.
BowlingJCTruittRH (2003) Public relations in post-bubble America. Public Relations Quarterly, Spring: 45–48.
10.
BoxillILewisBRussellR. (2007) The political culture of democracy in Jamaica: 2006. Report, ed. Latin American Public Opinion Project, LAPOP, Kingston, Jamaica.
11.
CallaghanT (2003) Repent professional sins. Public Relations Strategist, April: 2.
12.
CarolanMS (2006) Sustainable agriculture, science and the co-production of ‘expert’ knowledge. Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability11: 421–431.
13.
CarolanMSBellMM (2003) In truth we trust: Discourse, phenomenology, and the social relations of knowledge in an environmental dispute. Environmental Values12: 225–245.
14.
CassonMDella GiustaM (2006) The economics of trust. In: BachmannRZaheerA (eds) Handbook of Trust Research. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp.332–354.
ClarkGLThriftNTickellA (2004) Performing finance: The industry, the media and its image. Review of International Political Economy11: 289–310.
18.
CookKS (2005) Networks, norms, and trust: The social psychology of social capital. Social Psychology Quarterly68: 4–14.
19.
CurtinPAGaitherTK (2007) International Public Relations: Negotiating Culture, Identity and Power. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
20.
DavisA (2000) Public relations, business news and the reproduction of corporate elite power. Journalism1: 282–304.
21.
De GoedeM (2005) Virtue, Fortune and Faith: A Genealogy of Finance. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
22.
Delahaye PaineKHonLGrunigJ (2003) Guidelines for measuring trust in organisations. In: IPR (ed.). Gainesville, FL: Institute for Public Relations, p.13.
23.
Du GayPHallSJanesLMackayHNegusK (1997) Doing Cultural Studies: The Story of the Sony Walkman. Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage.
24.
Edelman. (2008) 2008 Trust Barometer: The Ninth Global Opinion Leaders Study. Report, Edelman, New York.
Equitable Life. (1990) With profits without mystery. Paper presented to the Faculty of Actuaries, Edinburgh, UK.
27.
Equitable Life. (2000) Equitable Life 1999 Annual Report and Accounts. Ayelsbury: Equitable Life.
28.
European Parliament. (2007) Committee of Inquiry into the crisis of the Equitable Life Assurance Society (chair McGuinessM, rapporteur WallisD). Strasbourg: European Parliament.
29.
FaircloughN (2006) Language and Globalization. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge.
30.
Fann ThomasGZolinRHartmanJL (2009) The central role of communication in developing trust and its effect on employee involvement. Journal of Business Communication46: 287–310.
31.
FarrellH (2004) Trust, distrust and power. In: HardinR (ed.) Distrust. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, pp.85–105.
32.
FaubionJD (2002[1994]) Michel Foucault: Power. In: Essential Works of Foucault 1954–1984. London: Penguin, p. 528.
33.
FisherJvan HeerdeJTuckerA (2010) Does one trust judgment fit all? Linking theory and empirics. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations12: 161–188.
34.
FogaC (2001) Developments in the life insurance industry in Jamaica 1990–1998: Consequences for monetary policy. Social and Economic Studies50: 209–232.
35.
ForemanAB (1997) The life insurance industry in Jamaica – another perspective. The Sunday Gleaner, 2March, 8A and 11A.
36.
FoucaultM (1969) The Archaeology of Knowledge. London: Routledge.
37.
FoucaultM (1981) The order of discourse. In: YoungR (ed.) Untying the Text: A Poststructuralist Reader. London and Boston: Routledge & Keegan Paul, pp. 51–77.
38.
FroggattHIqbalI (2002) Smashing with-profits business. Paper presented to the Staple Inn Actuarial Society, 15 October, Staple Inn, London.
39.
FukuyamaF (1995) Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity. New York: Free Press Paperbacks.
40.
GiddensA (1990) The Consequences of Modernity. Oxford: Polity Press in association with Basil Blackwell.
41.
GilbertT (1998) Towards a politics of trust. Journal of Advanced Nursing27: 1010–1016.
42.
GilbertTP (2005) Impersonal trust and professional authority: Exploring the dynamics. Journal of Advanced Nursing49: 568–577.
43.
GolinA (2004) Trust or Consequences. New York: American Management Association.
44.
GreenF (2006) Restoring faith in financial products & services. Paper presented to the Financial Services Research & Insight Forum, 15–16 February, London.
45.
GreyCGarstenC (2001) Trust, control and post-bureaucracy. Organization Studies22: 229–250.
46.
GrixJ (2004) The Foundations of Research. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
47.
HarmesA (2001) Mass investment culture. New Left Review9: 103–124.
48.
HarrisJDWicksAC (2010) Public trust and trust in particular firm–stakeholder interactions. Corporate Reputation Review13: 142–154.
49.
HeaddonC (2001) Letter to Policyholders. London: Equitable Life.
50.
HiltonA (2004) Lack of return is key. Evening Standard, 24November, 35.
51.
HoltzhausenDR (2002) Towards a postmodern research agenda for public relations. Public Relations Review28: 251–264.
52.
House of Lords. (2000) Judgments: Equitable Life Assurance Society v. Hyman. London: UK Parliament.
KincaidJ (2006) Finance, trust and the power of capital: A symposium on the contribution of Costas Lapavitsas. Editorial introduction. Historical Materialism14: 31–48.
59.
KorczynskiM (2000) The political economy of trust. Journal of Management Studies37: 1–21.
60.
KramerRM (2010) Collective trust within organizations: Conceptual foundations and empirical insights. Corporate Reputation Review13: 82–97.
61.
L’EtangJ (2005) Critical public relations: Some reflections. Public Relations Review31: 521–526.
62.
LangleyP (2006) The making of investor subjects in Anglo-American pensions. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space24: 919–934.
63.
LapavitsasC (2007) Information and trust as social aspects of credit. Economy and Society36: 416–436.
64.
LashS (1994) Reflexivity and its doubles: Structure, aesthetics, community. In: BeckUGiddensALashS (eds) Reflexive Modernization: Politics, Tradition and Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order. Cambridge: Polity Press, pp.110–173.
65.
LawniczakR (2007) Public relations role in a global competition ‘to sell’ alternative political and socio-economic models of market economy. Public Relations Review33: 377–386.
66.
LepperJ (2003) Equitable life action group hires BPPA to assist claims. PRWeek, 27February, 2.
67.
LewinR (2002) Investigating the benefits of mutuality: A discussion of the demutualisation trend. Pensions International Journal7: 313–336.
68.
LewisP (2001) An inequitable life. In: Money Box (radio broadcast, 21 January). London: BBC.
69.
LindoD (1994) Time Tells Our Story: The History of Jamaica Mutual Life Insurance Society – 1844–1994. Kingston, Jamaica: Ian Randle Publishers.
70.
LintonE (2002) Governance of with-profits funds and the future role of the appointed actuary. In: FSA (ed.) With-Profits Review. London: Financial Services Authority.
71.
MarkováIGillespieA (2008) Trust and distrust: Sociocultural perspectives. In: ValsinerJ (ed.) Advances in Cultural Psychology. Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing.
72.
MatalonA (1997) Mutual Life needs commission of enquiry. The Daily Observer, 26November, 8.
73.
McDonaldL (1998) Down but not out. Life Insurance International, September, 6.
74.
MeeksB (2007) Envisioning Caribbean Futures. Jamaican Perspectives. Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press.
75.
MoloneyK (2005) Trust and public relations: Center and edge. Public Relations Review31: 550–555.
76.
MORI (2001) Survey of Policyholders’ Views. London: MORI.
77.
MotionJWeaverCK (2005) A discourse perspective for critical public relations research: Life Sciences Network and the battle for truth. Journal of Public Relations Research17: 49–67.
78.
Mutual Life. (1991) Mutual Life 1990 Annual Report and Accounts. Kingston, Jamaica: Mutual Life.
79.
Mutual Life. (1992) Life for 148 years. Daily Gleaner, 21March, 21.
80.
Mutual Life. (1994) The Jamaica Mutual Life Assurance Society – 150th anniversary supplement. Sunday Gleaner, 5June, 1–24.
81.
Mutual Life. (1997) Statement from The Jamaica Mutual Life Assurance Society. Sunday Gleaner, 23February, 10.
82.
NicholasK (2005) Rebuilding reputations in financial services. In: WeekP (ed.) PRWeek White Paper. London: PRWeek, pp.1–8.
83.
NielsenB (2006) The singular character of public relations in a global economy. In: The Institute for Public Relations, International Distinguished Lecture, The Reform Club, London.
84.
O’BrienC (2006) The downfall of Equitable Life in the United Kingdom: The mismatch of strategy and risk management. Risk Management and Insurance Review9: 189–204.
85.
O’FarrellC (2005) Michel Foucault. London: Sage.
86.
O’MalleyP (2002) Imagining insurance: Risk, thrift, and life insurance in Britain. In: BakerT (ed.) Embracing Risk: The Changing Culture of Insurance and Responsibility. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 97–115.
87.
OvertonJ (1999) Worlds apart: Reflections on trust, colonialism and decolonisation. Hume Papers on Public Policy7: 33–41.
88.
PenroseGW (2004) Report of the Equitable Life Enquiry (report for the House of Commons). London: Stationery Office.
PoppoLSchepkerDJ (2010) Repairing public trust in organizations. Corporate Reputation Review13: 124–141.
93.
PrasadA (2009) Contesting hegemony through genealogy: Foucault and cross cultural management research. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management9: 359–369.
94.
Price Waterhouse. (1996) Auditors’ Report to the Members of the Jamaica Mutual Life Assurance Society. Kingston, Jamaica: Price Waterhouse.
95.
PRSA. (2003) A discussion on public trust. Public Relations Tactics, September, 31–33.
96.
RawlinsBL (2008) Measuring the relationship between organizational transparency and employee trust. Public Relations Journal2: 1–21.
97.
RendtorffJD (2008) Corporate citizenship, trust and accountability. In: 24th Conference of the Nordic Sociological Association, University of Aarhus, Denmark.
98.
RisseT (2007) Social constructivism meets globalisation. In: HeldDMcGrewA (eds) Globalisation Theory: Approaches and Controversy. Cambridge: Polity Press, pp.126–147.
99.
RitchD (1996) White collar fraud. Sunday Gleaner, 4February, 9A.
100.
SavageMWilliamsK (2008) Elites: Remembered in capitalism and forgotten by social sciences. Sociological Review56: 1–24.
101.
ScottC (2001) Equitable Life selects B-M to manage crisis. PRWeek, 17August, 1.
ShapiroSP (1987) The social control of impersonal trust. American Journal of Sociology93: 623.
104.
SimpsonD (2001) Trust in life assurance. Economic Affairs21: 23–28.
105.
SommerCBenteleG (2006) Losing public trust: A German case study. In: International Communication Association Annual Meeting, International Congress Centre, Dresden, Germany.
106.
StoneR (1994) The Stone Columns: The Last Year’s Work. Kingston: Sangsters’ Book Stores.
TylerKStanleyE (2007) The role of trust in financial services business relationships. Journal of Services Marketing21: 334–344.
109.
ValinJ (2004) Overview of public relations around the world and principles of modern practice. In: CONFERP. Brasilia, Brazil: Global PR Alliance, p.31.
110.
VassilevIPilgrimD (2007) Risk, trust and the myth of mental health services. Journal of Mental Health16: 347–357.
111.
WatsonML (2005) Can There be just one trust? A cross-disciplinary identification of trust definitions and measurement. Report, Institute for Public Relations, Gainesville, Florida.
WelchM (2006) Rethinking relationship management: Exploring the dimension of trust. Journal of Communication Management10: 138–155.
114.
WetherellMTaylorSYatesSJ (2001) Discourse as Data. London: Sage.
115.
YandleB (2008) Lost trust: The real cause of the financial meltdown. In: George Mason University (ed.) Mercatus Center Working Papers. Fairfax, VA: Mercatus Center.
116.
ZuckerLG (1986) Production of trust: Institutional sources of economic structure, 1840–1920. Research in Organizational Behavior8: 53–111.
