Dr Clea Bourne

Clea explores economies and market practices at the cross-section of media, cultural and market studies.

Staff details

Position

Reader

Department

Media, Communications and Cultural Studies

Email

c.bourne (@gold.ac.uk)

Clea is a Reader in Media, Communications and Cultural Studies. Her work explores economies and market practices, drawing on media and cultural studies, as well as market studies. Her recent publications have focused on financial markets, promotional culture, and AI and automation. Clea's sole-authored books include 'Public Relations and the Digital' (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-13956-7). She is also co-editor of 'The Entangled Legacies of Empire' (https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526163448/), and the 'Sage Handbook of Promotional Culture and Society' (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/the-sage-handbook-of-promotional-culture-and-society/book281570).

Research interests

My broad research interests lie in the different ways that 21st century economies are strategically communicated and mediatised through various actors, practices and discourses. This research interest has translated into the following themes:

AI and digital platforms: How AI and automation are legitimised through public discourse, including via technohype.
Promotional culture and the promotional professions: Unearthing different socio-economic interpretations of 'value' in the promotional industries. Exploring professional identity and boundary work at the intersection of the PR, Advertising and Marketing professions.
Financial narratives: Locating contemporary financial markets and digital finance in the context of economic storytelling and global discourses.

Publications and research outputs

Book

Public Relations and the Digital: Professional Discourse and Change Bourne, Clea D.. 2022. Public Relations and the Digital: Professional Discourse and Change. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783031139550
Trust, Power and Public Relations in Financial Markets Bourne, Clea D.. 2016. Trust, Power and Public Relations in Financial Markets. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 9780415719216

Edited Book

The Sage Handbook of Promotional Culture and Society Edwards, Lee; Bourne, Clea D.; Cabañes, Jason Vincent and Castro, Gisela, eds. 2025. The Sage Handbook of Promotional Culture and Society. London: Sage. ISBN 9781529602623
The entangled legacies of empire: Race, finance and inequality Gilbert, Paul Robert; Bourne, Clea D.; Haiven, Max and Montgomerie, Johnna, eds. 2023. The entangled legacies of empire: Race, finance and inequality. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526163448

Edited Journal

Financial Capital and Ghosts of Empire: Editorial Bourne, Clea D.; Haiven, Max; Montgomerie, Johnna and Gilbert, Paul Robert, eds. 2024. Financial Capital and Ghosts of Empire: Editorial, Journal of Cultural Economy, . 1753-0350

Book Section

Editors' Introduction: What is Promotional Culture Today? Edwards, Lee; Bourne, Clea D.; Cabañes, Jason Vincent and Castro, Gisela. 2025. Editors' Introduction: What is Promotional Culture Today? In: Lee Edwards; Clea Bourne; Jason Vincent Cabañes and Gisela Castro, eds. The Sage Handbook of Promotional Culture and Society. London: Sage, xxi-xxxiv. ISBN 9781529602623
Public relations as ‘tour of duty’: ‘Dis’embodying PR work in Criminal Minds Bourne, Clea D.. 2025. Public relations as ‘tour of duty’: ‘Dis’embodying PR work in Criminal Minds. In: Lee Edwards; Clea Bourne; Jason Vincent Cabañes and Gisela Castro, eds. The Sage Handbook of Promotional Culture and Society. London: Sage, pp. 325-339. ISBN 9781529602623
AI ethics are not enough: Public relations, social justice and artificial intelligence Bourne, Clea D. and Jackson, Michaela. 2025. AI ethics are not enough: Public relations, social justice and artificial intelligence. In: Lee Edwards; Clea Bourne; Jason Vincent Cabañes and Gisela Castro, eds. The Sage Handbook of Promotional Culture and Society. London: Sage, pp. 59-73. ISBN 9781529602623

AI Hype: Public Relations and AI's doomsday machine Bourne, Clea D.. 2023. AI Hype: Public Relations and AI's doomsday machine. In: Ana Adi, ed. Artificial Intelligence in Public Relations and Communications: Cases, reflections and predictions. Berlin: Quadriga University of Applied Sciences, pp. 39-50. ISBN 9783942263627
Our Platformised Future Bourne, Clea D.. 2022. Our Platformised Future. In: Joanna Zylinska, ed. The Future of Media. London: Goldsmiths Press, pp. 99-110. ISBN 9781913380144
Critical Reflections on the Field Bourne, Clea D. and Edwards, Lee. 2021. Critical Reflections on the Field. In: Chiara Valentini, ed. Public Relations. 27 Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 601-614. ISBN 9783110552294
'Public Relations and Finance' Bourne, Clea D.. 2020. 'Public Relations and Finance'. In: Ralph Tench and Stephen Waddington, eds. Exploring Public Relations and Management Communication, Fifth Edition. United Kingdom: Pearson, pp. 570-588. ISBN 9781292321745
'Public Relations in the World of Finance' Bourne, Clea D.. 2017. 'Public Relations in the World of Finance'. In: Ralph Tench and Liz Yeomans, eds. Exploring Public Relations: Global Strategic Communication - Fourth Edition. Harlow, United Kingdom: Pearson, pp. 412-425. ISBN 978-1-292-11218-3
Central banking in risk discourses: ‘Remaking’ the economy after crisis Bourne, Clea D.. 2016. Central banking in risk discourses: ‘Remaking’ the economy after crisis. In: J. Crichton; C.N. Candlin and A.S. Firkins, eds. Communicating Risk. Palgrave-Macmillan, pp. 307-322. ISBN 978-1-137-47878-8
Extending PR’s critical conversations with advertising and marketing Bourne, Clea D.. 2015. Extending PR’s critical conversations with advertising and marketing. In: Jacquie L'Etang; David McKie; Nancy Snow and Jordi Xifra, eds. The Routledge Handbook of Critical Public Relations. Routledge, pp. 119-129. ISBN 9780415727334
Public Relations in the World of Finance Bourne, Clea D.. 2013. Public Relations in the World of Finance. In: Ralph Tench and Liz Yeomans, eds. Exploring Public Relations, 3rd Edition. Harlow: Pearson United Kingdom, pp. 381-394. ISBN 9780273757771
'Globalize' AND 'Power/knowledge and Public Relations’ Bourne, Clea D.. 2013. 'Globalize' AND 'Power/knowledge and Public Relations’. In: Robert L. Heath, ed. The Encyclopaedia of Public Relations (Second Edition). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications. ISBN 9781452240794
Producing trust in country financial narratives Bourne, Clea D.. 2012. Producing trust in country financial narratives. In: Christopher Candlin and Jonathan Crichton, eds. Discourses of Trust. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230308497
'Rating agencies as a corporate governance mechanism: Power and trust production in debt capital markets’ Bourne, Clea D.. 2012. 'Rating agencies as a corporate governance mechanism: Power and trust production in debt capital markets’. In: Ralph Tench; Brian Jones and William Sun, eds. Corporate Social Irresponsibility: Issues, Debates and Case Studies. 4 Bingley: Emerald Books, pp. 135-156. ISBN 978-1-78052-998-1

Article

AI hype, promotional culture, and affective capitalism Bourne, Clea D.. 2024. AI hype, promotional culture, and affective capitalism. AI and Ethics, 4(3), pp. 757-769. ISSN 2730-5953
Narrating the anxious market: in search of alternatives during global crises Bourne, Clea D.; Mumby, Dennis; Munshi, Debashish; Das, Arindam; Chaudhuri, Himadri Roy and Edwards, Lee. 2023. Narrating the anxious market: in search of alternatives during global crises. Consumption Markets & Culture, 26(3), pp. 233-244. ISSN 1025-3866
Fintech’s transparency-publicity nexus: Value co-creation through transparency discourses in business-to-business digital marketing Bourne, Clea D.. 2020. Fintech’s transparency-publicity nexus: Value co-creation through transparency discourses in business-to-business digital marketing. American Behavioural Scientist, 64(11), pp. 1607-1626. ISSN ‎0002-7642

Dr Clea Bourne

Position: Reader: Convenor of the MA Promotional Media, Public Relations, Advertising and Marketing