Neoliberal resilience vs. structural realities: How public relations officers in Pakistan perceive disaster communication

Abstract

Pakistan’s vulnerability to natural disasters, exemplified by the catastrophic 2025 floods, underscores systemic gaps in disaster communication and community resilience. This study examines how Public Relations Officers (PROs) perceive and implement disaster communication strategies in Pakistan’s unique context, a setting marked by bureaucratic fragmentation, resource constraints, and sociocultural complexities rarely addressed in Global North-centric Public Relations (PR) literature. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, analysing interviews with 11 PROs and 3,347 communication outputs (December 2020–March 2021), to investigate if Pakistan’s contextual factors shape PROs’ perceptions of their disaster communication roles. Findings reveal a critical misalignment between PROs’ neoliberal framing of resilience (as individual responsibility) and the structural realities of at-risk communities. While PROs emphasise early warnings, the quantitative analysis shows 78% of communication was reactive in that it focused on post-disaster relief rather than preparedness. The study identifies four systemic barriers: (1) bureaucratic delays in message dissemination, (2) over-reliance on top-down communication, (3) lack of audience research, and (4) coordination gaps between agencies. Building on dialogic and resilience-oriented PR models, this study proposes a Contingent Communication Framework that emphasises culturally grounded dialogue, participatory engagement, and relational PR. Practical recommendations include integrating community feedback mechanisms, hybridising digital/traditional communication channels, and decentralising PR decision-making to address Pakistan’s infrastructural and cultural constraints.