The Making of the White Middle-Class Radical: a Discourse
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THE MAKING OF THE WHITE MIDDLE-CLASS RADICAL: A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE PUBLIC RELATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF EL SALVADOR BETWEEN 1980 AND 1990 by RICARDO J. VALENCIA A DISSERTATION Presented to the School of Journalism and Communication and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2018 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Ricardo J. Valencia Title: The Making of the White Middle-Class Radical: A Discourse Analysis of the Public Relations of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador between 1980 and 1990 This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the School of Journalism and Communication by: Prof. Gabriela Martinez Chairperson Prof. Chris Chavez Core Member Prof. Tiffany Gallicano Core Member Prof. Erin Beck Institutional Representative and Sara D. Hodges Interim Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2018 ii © Ricardo J. Valencia iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Ricardo J. Valencia Doctor of Philosophy School of Journalism and Communication June 2018 Title: The Making of the White Middle-Class Radical: A Discourse Analysis of the Public Relations of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador between 1980 and 1990 This study explores the role of public relations in the formation of a collective identity of the activists of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) between 1980 and 1990. CISPES was a radical U.S.-based organization comprised of a majority of white college-educated members. CISPES had two goals: 1) stop the U.S. military assistance to El Salvador, and 2) support the Salvadoran revolutionary movements that were fighting a U.S.-backed government. Through interviews, discourse analysis and historical research, this work shows that CISPES used as currency the whiteness of its activists, in conjunction with its educational background, to influence public opinion and policy-making in the U.S. The formation of CISPES as a white organization was partially achieved by continuous negotiations with Salvadoran radicals living in the U.S. Early in the 1990s, CISPES' collective identity as a white organization entered in crisis as internal debates on gender and race along with social changes in the national and international levels challenged dominant views and the status quo of whiteness and what this implies in political, social, and cultural spheres. This work proposes two models: the intersectional recruiting process and the ideological identity model of public relations. Both models were created iv using dialectical methodologies that understand public relations and social movements as processes of permanent contradictions between social conditions and ideology/discourse creation. This dissertation has real applications because it reveals how activist public relations can help the global struggle for social justice. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Ricardo J. Valencia GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany/ Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark Central American University, San Salvador, El Salvador DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, Media Studies, 2018, University of Oregon Master of Arts, Media Studies, 2010, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany Master of Arts, Media Studies, 2010, Aarhus University, Aarhus Bachelor of Arts, Communication and Journalism, 2005, Central American University, San Salvador AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Strategic Communications Cultural Studies Critical Race Theory PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Communication Counselor, Embassy of El Salvador to the United States, 2010-2014 Reporter, La Prensa Gráfica, 2004-2010 GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Graduate Teaching Fellowship, School of Journalism and Communications, University of Oregon 2014-2018 Columbia Scholarship, School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon, 2014-2018 Lokey Fellowship, School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon, 2017-2018 vi PUBLICATIONS: Valencia, R. & Jones, P. (2018). Networks of Radical Contention: The Co-Constitutive Relations between Structural Conditions and Public Relations Strategies and Tactics in the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES). Public Relations Inquiry Molleda, J., Suarez, A., Athaydes, A., Sadi, G., Hernandez, E., Valencia, R. (2017). Influences of post-colonialism over the understanding and evolution of the public relations practice in Latin America. In E. Bridges & D. Verčič (Eds.), Experiencing Public Relations: London, UK: Routledge, UK. vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I want to express my sincere appreciation to my family, especially my mother, Flor de María, and my sister, Astrid, for their spiritual and material support. Also, I am thankful to my community of friends in Eugene who taught me that the struggle for social justice occurs in different streams simultaneously. In addition, special thanks to the chair of my dissertation committee, Prof. Gabriela Martinez, who provided me with important theoretical and methodological feedback, and also guided me throughout my tenure as a Ph.D. student in Oregon. Prof. Martinez is more than an advisor; she is a mentor and a friend whom I deeply admire. Finally, I appreciate the invaluable advice and the respect that Prof. Chávez, Prof. Gallicano, and Prof. Beck gave me. Muchas Gracias! viii This dissertation is dedicated to all CISPES activists—your dedication to justice greatly contributes in the building of Salvadoran democracy. You were selfless allies in the dream of building a better world. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ............................................................................ 9 El Salvador in the Congress ................................................................................... 14 Reagan’s PR Complex ........................................................................................... 16 The New Left ......................................................................................................... 19 CISPES as an Organization ................................................................................... 21 III. LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................... 27 Public Relations, Politics and Activism ................................................................. 28 Racial Identities and Whiteness ............................................................................. 30 Public Relations as Resistance ............................................................................... 34 Identity as a Dialectical Structural Process ............................................................ 36 Identities and Social Movement Organizations ..................................................... 43 Ideology, Discourses, Identities and Dialectics ..................................................... 55 IV. METHODS ............................................................................................................ 59 Operationalization .................................................................................................. 59 Discourse Analysis ................................................................................................. 60 Interviews ............................................................................................................... 63 Positionality and Limitations ................................................................................. 67 V. FINDINGS OF RQ1 AND RQ2 ............................................................................. 70 RQ1 ........................................................................................................................ 71 1980: Creating the Polarization ............................................................................. 73 x Chapter Page 1981:The Emergence of the Allies ........................................................................ 75 1984: The Closing of the Congressional Path ........................................................ 80 1985-1986: Stop the Bombing ............................................................................... 81 1987: The National Referendum Campaign .......................................................... 85 1988: The Legitimation of the FMLN ................................................................... 88 1990: The End is Near ........................................................................................... 91 A Decentralized-Centralized PR ............................................................................ 96 The Strategies ......................................................................................................... 105 VI. FINDIINGS OF RQ3 ............................................................................................. 112 RQ3 ........................................................................................................................ 112 Process of Intersectional Recruiting ...................................................................... 115 The Foundation of the Radical Individual