The article describes what a boycott is and why it is being announced. Several historical examples of this action are given.
Start
All at least once, yes heard this word. It has long and firmly become a kind of synonym for protest, a strike or some other form of peaceful opposition. If we turn to the encyclopedia, it says that a boycott is a form of political, civil, social or economic struggle whose purpose, by refusing to cooperate with an individual, legal entity or any organization, is to convey its ideas, requirements or proposals. Naturally, such measures are applied when it is difficult to resolve contentious issues in other ways.
Examples
A boycott is a completely legitimate measure, a way to convey your desires and aspirations when no one listens to ordinary words or protests. The most frequent boycotts were in the 20th century during the period of mass wars, revolutions and political changes.
It is worth noting that a boycott is a completely legitimate phenomenon (naturally, if it does not violate the law by its actions), and it is resorted not only to individuals, groups or organizations, but also entire countries and political movements. The most striking example is the US boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. This decision was made because of the supposedly fundamentally wrong decision to send the USSR troops to Afghanistan. However, the games still took place.
And one of the first mass and documented boycotts, whose conduct subsequently affected the state of things, was a boycott of cane sugar in England, since most of it was carried out by slaves in various colonies. This is what served as the first impetus for the abolition of slavery. So a boycott is sometimes a very effective method to achieve your goal.
Another example of such an action is a one-day boycott of German citizens by Jews in Germany in 1933. It was held as a protest against the incipient persecution and discrimination on racial and cultural grounds.
Origin
If we talk about the roots of this word, then it came from the English language. Charles Boycott - this was the name of one manager, to whom the English farmers announced a boycott.
Effectiveness
Despite successful historical examples, this form of protest is far from always bearing fruit. Often the organizers themselves also understand this, and therefore the boycott sometimes turns into a kind of popular or social movement, the purpose of which is to indicate unity with some people, beliefs or situations.
For example, in 2006, a number of residents of Arab countries began to ignore the goods of Danish companies due to the fact that the reporters of a Danish magazine painted a caricature of the prophet Muhammad. Obviously, the journalists had nothing to do with businessmen, but nevertheless this protest lasted a very long time.
It is worth noting that one should not confuse the boycott with the strike. These are completely different concepts. However, we’ll talk about strikes another time.