Cultivating listening spaces for civil society: Reorienting public relations amid Hannah Arendt's urgent pluralism.

The article explores how the ideas of Hannah Arendt can further public relations' understanding of organizational listening and its role in civil society. We draw on three major theoretical concepts from Arendt and scholars studying her work—plurality, interspaces, and lamp holders—and contextualize them within existing civil society research in public relations. Reading Arendt into organizational listening and civil society literature yields insights for how public relations contributes to the maintenance of structures and spaces for deliberation and civil society. Her theory points toward the concepts of bracketing and unbracketing as ways to enter civic spaces with an awareness of power and identity. As research on organizational listening has yet to fully identify how listening can contribute to supporting representative deliberation in polarized societies, this paper helps to theoretically position listening within civil society and provides initial suggestions as to how civic-minded listening can be incorporated into public relations practices aimed at building community. • The purpose of the paper is to explore how Arendt's political theory augments public relations' understanding of organizational listening in civil society. • Reading Arendt into organizational listening and civil society literature provides direction as to how public relations can strengthen civic bonds. • Arendt's political theory points toward new ways to implement organizational listening including bracketing and unbracketing. • This paper positions listening within civil society and provides initial suggestions as to how civic-minded practice has the potential to benefit communities as well as organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]