Boycott
A boycott is to abstain from using, buying, or dealing with someone or some organization as an expression of protest or as a means of coercion.
The word
boycott entered the English language during the Irish "Land War" and is derived from the name of Captain Charles Boycott, the estate agent of an absentee landlord, the Earl Erne, in County Mayo,
Ireland who was subject to social ostracism organized by the
Irish Land League in 1880. In September that year protesting tenants demanded from Boycott a substantial reduction in their rents. He not only refused but also ejected them from the land.
Encyclopedia
A
boycott is to abstain from using, buying, or dealing with someone or some organization as an expression of protest or as a means of coercion.
The word
boycott entered the English language during the Irish "Land War" and is derived from the name of Captain Charles Boycott, the estate agent of an absentee landlord, the Earl Erne, in County Mayo,
Ireland who was subject to social ostracism organized by the
Irish Land League in 1880. In September that year protesting tenants demanded from Boycott a substantial reduction in their rents. He not only refused but also ejected them from the land. The Irish Land League proposed that, rather than resorting to violence, everyone in the locality should refuse to deal with him. Despite the short-term economic hardship to those undertaking this action, Boycott soon found himself isolated — his workers stopped work in the fields, stables as well as the house. Local businessmen stopped trading with him and the local postman refused to deliver post.
The concerted action taken against him meant that Boycott was unable to hire anyone to
harvest the crops in his charge. Eventually 50
Orangemen from Cavan and Monaghan volunteered to harvest his crops. They were escorted to and from Claremorris by one thousand policemen and soldiers – this despite the fact that Boycott's complete social ostracism meant that he was actually in no danger of being harmed. Moreover, this protection ended up costing far more than the harvest was worth. After the harvest, the "boycott" was successfully continued. Within weeks Boycott's name was everywhere. It was used by
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in November 1880 as a term of organized isolation. According to an account in the book “The Fall of Feudalism in Ireland” by Michael Davitt, the term was coined by Fr. John O' Malley from County Mayo to “signify ostracism applied to a landlord or agent like Boycott”.
The Times of London first reported on November 20, 1880: “The people of New Pallas have resolved to 'boycott' them and refused to supply them with food or drink.” The Daily News wrote on December 13, 1880: “Already the stoutest-hearted are yielding on every side to the dread of being 'Boycotted'.” By January of the following year, the word was being used figuratively: "Dame Nature arose....She 'Boycotted' London from Kew to Mile End" .
On December 1, 1880 Captain Boycott left his post and withdrew to
England, with his family.
Historical Milestones
- 1769, in opposition of "taxation without representation," Colonial boycott of British trade goods.
- 1830 - boycott of slave-produced goods.
- the boycott of Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott, an English land agent in Ireland who was subject to a boycott organized by the Irish Land League, 1880
- Boycott of Japanese products in China after the May Fourth Movement.
- the boycott of British goods in December 1921 by Mahatma Gandhi, known as the swadeshi policy. Gandhi also urged people to boycott British educational institutions and law courts, to resign from government employment, and to forsake British titles and honours.
- by African Americans during the U.S. civil rights movement, late 1950s and 1960s
- the United Farm Workers union's grape and lettuce boycotts
- the Arab League boycott of Israel and companies trading with Israel
- the boycott of South Africa by a large part of the world's countries during its apartheid period
Earlier practice
Although the term itself was not coined until 1880, the practice dates back to at least 1830, when the National Negro Convention encouraged a boycott of slave-produced goods. Other instances of boycotts are their use by
African Americans during the
US civil rights movement; the
United Farm Workers union grape and lettuce boycotts; the American boycott of British goods at the time of the
American Revolution; the
Indian boycott of British goods organized by
Mohandas Gandhi; and the
Arab League boycott of
Israel and companies trading with Israel. In 1973, the Arab countries enacted a
crude oil embargo against the West, see
1973 oil crisis. Other examples includes the
United States boycott to participate in the
1980 Summer Olympics, held in
Moscow that year , the retaliatory boycott of the
1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles by Soviet Union and following 14
Eastern bloc countries, and the movement that advocated "disinvestment" in
South Africa during the 1980s in opposition to that country's
apartheid regime. The first Olympic boycott was in
1956 Summer Olympics for the Soviet invasion of Hungary.
American track star Lacey O'Neal coined the term 'girlcott' in the context of the protests by male
African American athletes during the 1968
Olympic Games in
Mexico City. Speaking for Black women athletes, she advised that the group would not "girlcott" the Olympic Games as they were still focused on being recognized. "Girlcott" appeared in
Time magazine in 1970, and then later was used by retired
tennis player
Billie Jean King in
The Times in reference to Wimbledon to emphasize her argument regarding equal pay for women players.
Application and uses
A boycott is normally considered a one-time affair designed to correct an outstanding single wrong. When extended for a long period of time, or as part of an overall program of awareness-raising or reforms to laws or regimes, a boycott is part of
moral purchasing, and those economic or political terms are to be preferred.
Most organized consumer boycotts today are focused on long-term change of buying habits, and so fit into part of a larger political program, with many techniques that require a longer structural commitment, e.g. reform to
commodity markets, or government commitment to
moral purchasing, e.g. the longstanding boycott of
South African businesses to protest
apartheid already alluded to. These stretch the meaning of a "boycott."
Boycotts are now much easier to successfully initiate due to the
Internet. Examples include the
gay and lesbian boycott of advertisers of the "
Dr. Laura" talk show, gun owners' similar boycott of advertisers of
Rosie O'Donnell's talk show and magazine, and gun owners' boycott of
Smith & Wesson following that company's March 2000 settlement with the
Clinton administration. They may be initiated very easily using either Web sites , newsgroups , or even mailing lists. Internet-initiated boycotts "snowball" very quickly compared to other forms of organization.
Another form of consumer boycotting is substitution for an equivalent product; for example
Mecca Cola or
Qibla Cola, and also the call to avoid
Costco,
Walmart, or the diverse products of
Philip Morris.
Today a prime target of boycotts is consumerism itself, e.g. "
International Buy Nothing Day" celebrated globally on the Friday after
Thanksgiving Day in the
United States. Another example of a modern boycott is the blacklisting of the country band
The Dixie Chicks after one of the members made a derogatory political comment about
President Bush. Many country music stations in the
U.S., most of which are
Clear Channel affiliates, now refuse to play their music as a result.
The ongoing mergers and acquisitions, leading to forming oligopolies and
monopolies, effectively control the supply chain, and there is a plethora of various product names from the same company where the manufacturer is not immediately obvious, leads to substantial limitations of consumer choice. For example, there are many restaurants worldwide where the choice of
soft drinks is effectively limited only to products of
Coca Cola Company, making the boycott of this subject rather impractical.
Legality
While boycotts are generally legal in developed countries, some restrictions may apply. For instance, it may be unlawful for a union to order the boycott of companies that supply items to the organization.
For United States citizens, the antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations apply to all "U.S. persons," defined to include individuals and companies located in the United States and their foreign affiliates. These persons are subject to the law when their activities relate to the sale, purchase, or transfer of goods or services within the United States or between the U.S. and a foreign country. This covers U.S. exports and imports, financing, forwarding and shipping, and certain other transactions that may take place wholly offshore.
See also
External links
- Proctor & Gamble boycott
- - A Christian boycott of the film The Da Vinci Code is a mystery [i]/detective [i] novel [i] by American [i] ...
Citations
