Boycott

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A boycott is the act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with someone or some other organization as an expression of protest.

Etymology The word boycott entered the English language during the Ireland "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. Charles Stewart Parnell, in his Ennis Speech 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 Orange Institution from County Cavan and County Monaghan volunteered to harvest his crops. They were escorted to and from Claremorris by one thousand Royal Irish Constabulary 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 The Times 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 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" (The Spectator, January 22, 1881).

On December 1, 1880 Captain Boycott left his post and withdrew to England, with his family.

Examples of Boycotts

1769, in opposition of "taxation without representation," American 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 United States of America civil rights movement, late 1950s and 1960s
the United Farm Workers union's grape and lettuce boycotts
the Economic and political boycotts of Israel 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
1994 - National Right to Life Committee, United States boycott of Hoechst AG branded prescription drugs including Altace

Earlier examples 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 of America 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; the antisemitism boycott of Jewish-owned businesses in Nazi Germany during the 1930s and the Arab League Economic and political boycotts of Israel 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 (under President Jimmy Carter) to participate in the 1980 Summer Olympics, held in Moscow that year (to protest the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan), the boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles by Soviet Union (for security reasons - stating that "chauvinistic sentiments and an anti-Soviet hysteria being whipped up in the United States"Burns, John F. Protests are Issue: Russians Charge ‘Gross Flouting’ of the Ideals of the Competition. New York Times, 9 May 1984) 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 with several countries boycotting the games for different reasons.

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, London 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 homosexuality boycott of advertisers of the "Dr. Laura" talk show, gun owners' similar boycott of advertisers of Rosie O'Donnell's talk show and (later) magazine, and gun owners' boycott of Smith & Wesson following that company's March 2000 settlement with the Bill Clinton administration. They may be initiated very easily using either Web sites (the Dr. Laura boycott), newsgroups (the Rosie O'Donnell boycotts), 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 and Qibla Cola have been marketed as substitutes for Coca-Cola among Muslim populations.

Academic boycotts have been organized against countries. For example, the mid and late 20th century academic boycotts of South Africa in protest of apartheid practices and the less successful but more recent academic boycotts of Israel.

Some boycotts center on particular businesses, such as recent protests regarding Costco, Walmart, Ford Motor Company, or the diverse products of Altria Group#Food .26 Beverage. Another form of boycott identifies a number of different companies involved in a particular issue, such as the Sudan Divestment campaign, the Boycott Bush campaign. The Boycott Bush website was set up by Ethical Consumer after President George W. Bush failed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol - the website identifies Bush's corporate funders and the brands and products they produce. Today a prime target of boycotts is consumerism itself, e.g. "International Buy Nothing Day" celebrated globally on the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States.

Another version of the boycott is targeted divestment, or disinvestment. Targeted divestment involves campaigning for withdrawal of investment, for example the Sudan Divestment campaign involves putting pressure on companies, often through shareholder activism, to withdraw investment that helps the Sudanese government perpetuate genocide in Darfur. Only if a company refuses to change its behavior in response to shareholder engagement does the targeted divestment model call for divestment from that company. Such targeted divestment implicitly excludes companies involved in agriculture, the production and distribution of consumer goods, or the provision of goods and services intended to relieve human suffering or to promote health, religious and spiritual activities, or education.

As a response to consumer boycotts of large-scale and multinational businesses, some companies have begun marketing brands which, though formally owned by the parent corporation, do not bear the company's name on the packaging or in advertising. Activists such as Ethical Consumer produce information on which companies own which brands and products to enable consumers to practice boycotts or moral purchasing more effectively.

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 George W. Bush. Many country music stations in the United States now refuse to play their music due to the volume of complaints lodged by listeners.

"Boycotts" may be formally organized by governments as well. In reality, government "boycotts" are just a type of embargo. It is notable that the first formal, nationwide act of the Nazi government against German Jews was a national embargo of Jewish businesses on April 1, 1933.

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 (EAR) 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 (including information) within the United States or between the United States and a foreign country. This covers exports and imports, financing, forwarding and shipping, and certain other transactions that may take place wholly offshore.

See also

Export restriction
Dollar voting
Economic secession
Embargo
List of boycotts
Moral purchasing
Montgomery bus boycott
1973 oil crisis
Nestlé boycott
Non-violent resistance
Primary boycott
Secondary boycott
Stop Esso campaign
Support Denmark Movement
Tax resistance

External links

Boycotts List Ethical Consumer maintains an up to date list of boycotts called by campaign groups
Boycott Watch -- Read both sides of the boycott story
Smart Boycotts

Citations

Boycott Israel
Website under major upgrade. To minimize disruption new material will be added to the new Boycott Israel page whilst keeping the original Boycott Israel page intact and fully ...

Boycott Israel Campaign
Boycott Israel Campaign, Islamic group calling for boycott of companies supporting the zionist occupation of Palestine. Researched list of guilty companies (details on each ...

Baby Milk Action - The Nestlé Boycott
Nestl aggressively promotes its baby milks around the world, breaking a World Health Organisation code of marketing. It is subject to a consumer boycott in 19 countries.

Boycott - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A boycott is the act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with someone or some other organization as an expression of protest.

Denmark faces international boycott over Muslim cartoons - Times ...
DENMARK faced the full fury of the Muslim world yesterday as a long-simmering row over newspaper cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad finally erupted.

BBC NEWS | Business | Unhappy eBay traders boycott site
Disgruntled professional eBay traders stage a boycott of the auction site in protest at a rise in payment fees.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Egypt opposition boycotts polls
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood urges a boycott of municipal polls after being allowed to field just 20 candidates.

Boycott Apple from FOLDOC
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The RIAA boycott is on | The Register
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The Raging Cow Boycott
Join the Raging Cow Boycott. ... Raging Cow has got everybody buzzing - to the extreme, baby! Actually, they've really just got a lot of people mad, but the tragedy is that the ...