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The work behind the work.

The peer-reviewed articles, books, chapters and provocations that underpin the What If framework and its 2026 global testing cycle — from the original polycrisis workflow to the ongoing case for social value over social impact.

Publications by category

'26

Future of PR/Comms and their social impact

Adi, A., & Stoeckle, T. (2026). A metamodern inquiry into PR’s social value and impact. Public Relations Review, 102753. Advance online publication, 18 August 2026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2026.102753

Introduces the Public Relations Review special section built on the Future of PR/Comms study. Where the open-access report gives an insight into the global Delphi data, the special section revisits that data from a range of geographical, methodological and theoretical perspectives — and this article sets out why that re-reading matters and how the section holds together.

PUBLIC RELATIONS REVIEW · GUEST EDITORIALIN PRESS · CORRECTED PROOFRead on ScienceDirect →
'25

A metamodern public relations workflow for the polycrisis

Adi, A., & Stoeckle, T. (2025). Communication research and planning based on a What If framework. Public Relations Review, 51(4), 102619.

Introduces the What If framework as a practical scaffold embedding reflexivity, dialogic loops and AI-assisted deliberation into communication planning — grounded explicitly in metamodernism and polycrisis theory.

PUBLIC RELATIONS REVIEWRead on ScienceDirect →
'23

Public relations, post-truth, and grand challenges

Stoeckle, T., & Adi, A. (2023). Better research toward social value. Organicom, 20(42), 86–102. DOI: 10.11606/issn.2238-2593.organicom.2023.210366

Argues that PR's neoliberal, organizationally-centred foundations and over-reliance on quantitative pragmatism leave it ill-equipped for hypercomplex social challenges — and proposes a revised measurement and evaluation logic focused on stakeholder-centric social value.

ORGANICOMRead (EN/PT) →
'21

Future of Communications and Public Relations (PR)

Adi, A., & Stoeckle, T. (2021). (Re)Imagining the Role, Function and Purpose of the Communication Profession. ESSACHESS – Journal for Communication Studies, 14:1(27), 7–14.

Editorial introduction to a special edition exploring the future of PR/comms through metamodernism, astroturfing, newsroom structures, competences vs. capabilities, and deliberative democracy.

ESSACHESS · GUEST EDITORIALRead the introduction →

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