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Boycott
BOYCOTTA boycott is an organized, deliberate effort by consumers, workers, or businesses to avoid trade that benefits another group, business, or an entire country whose policies they disagree with. For example, in the 1950s and 1960s civil rights groups boycotted businesses in the American South that discriminated against African Americans. The goal of such boycotts was not only to protest nonviolently but also to coerce the targeted businesses to change their policies by directly affecting their revenues. The term boycott is derived from a nineteenth century British estate manager named Charles Boycott (1832–1897). During the potato famine of 1880, Irish tenant farmers on Boycott's land told Boycott he had to reduce their rents so they could survive the famine. Boycott refused, and the farmers joined together to refrain from any interaction that might benefit Boycott and his sympathizers. Boycott never backed down, but he eventually moved out of Ireland. A strike by workers against a business for higher wages or an embargo of one country by another are both boycotts intended to force change. Consumers who band together to avoid a store known for its high prices are practicing a boycott, as are companies that begin doing business with a new vendor to get their former partner to lower its prices. So-called primary boycotts are direct boycotts against the targeted business or group. For example, the civil-rights protestors of the 1950s and 1960s directly boycotted the very storeowners who refused to serve them. Secondary boycotts are directed against a third party who does business with the targeted business or group. For example, citizens protesting South Africa's formerly racist social policies boycotted U.S. companies that did business in South Africa. In the nineteenth century United States it was quite common for farmers to boycott railroads to get them to lower their freight haulage rates. U.S. labor unions also frequently told their members to avoid purchasing products from nonunionized businesses, and non-unionized businesses used the reverse tactic on unionized firms. During the Great Depression (1929–1939), for example, the National Metal Trades Association encouraged its member firms to boycott metal firms whose workforce had unionized or was considering doing so. In a landmark 1921 ruling, Duplex Printing Press v. Deering, the Supreme Court decided that unions could be sued for the damages caused by their secondary boycotts. In 1947 the Taft-Hartley Act outlawed secondary boycotts and strikes completely. See also: Taft-Hartley Act |
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"Boycott." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Boycott." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3406400115.html "Boycott." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. 1999. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3406400115.html |
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Boycott
BOYCOTTA lawful concerted attempt by a group of people to express displeasure with, or obtain concessions from, a particular person or company by refusing to do business with them. An unlawful attempt that is prohibited by thesherman anti-trust act(15 U.S.C.A. § 1 et seq.), to adversely affect a company through threat, coercion, or intimidation of its employees, or to prevent others from doing business with said company. A practice utilized in labor disputes whereby an organized group of employees bands together and refrains from dealing with an employer, the legality of which is determined by applicable provisions of statutes governing labor-management relations. A classic example of this is a consumer boycott whereby a group of customers refuses to purchase a particular product in order to indicate their dissatisfaction with excessive prices or the offensive actions of a particular manufacturer or producer. cross-references |
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"Boycott." West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Boycott." West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3437700599.html "Boycott." West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3437700599.html |
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boycott
boy·cott / ˈboiˌkät/ • v. [tr.] withdraw from commercial or social relations with (a country, organization, or person) as a punishment or protest. ∎ refuse to buy or handle (goods) as a punishment or protest. ∎ refuse to cooperate with or participate in (a policy or event). • n. a punitive ban that forbids relations with other bodies, cooperation with a policy, or the handling of goods. ORIGIN: from the name of Captain C. C. Boycott (1832–97), an English land agent in Ireland, so treated in 1880, in an attempt instigated by the Irish to get rents reduced. |
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"boycott." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "boycott." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-boycott.html "boycott." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-boycott.html |
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boycott
boycott Refusal to deal with a person, organization or country, either in terms of trade or other activities, such as sport. The term originated in 1880, when Irish tenant farmers refused to work for, supply or speak with Captain Charles Boycott, an agent of their landlord. Boycotts can be powerful protest tools, if they have sufficient support. See also embargo
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"boycott." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "boycott." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-boycott.html "boycott." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-boycott.html |
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boycott
boycott withdraw from commercial or social relations with (a country, organization, or person) as a punishment or protest, from the name of Captain Charles C. Boycott (1832–97), an Irish land agent so treated in 1880, in an attempt instigated by the Irish Land League to get rents reduced.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "boycott." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "boycott." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-boycott.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "boycott." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-boycott.html |
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boycott
boycott XIX (first used of the action of the Irish Land League against those who incurred its hostility). f. name of Captain C. C. Boycott (1832–97), who was a victim of such treatment as agent for the estates of the earl of Erne, Co. Mayo, Ireland, at the hands of the tenants.
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T. F. HOAD. "boycott." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "boycott." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-boycott.html T. F. HOAD. "boycott." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-boycott.html |
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boycott
boycott
•allot, begot, Bernadotte, blot, bot, capot, clot, cocotte, cot, culotte, dot, forgot, garrotte (US garrote), gavotte, got, grot, hot, jot, knot, lot, Mayotte, motte, not, Ott, outshot, plot, pot, rot, sans-culotte, Scot, Scott, shallot, shot, slot, snot, sot, spot, squat, stot, swat, swot, tot, trot, twat, undershot, Wat, Watt, what, wot, yacht
•robot • hotshot • peridot • microdot
•Wyandot • polka dot • fylfot • mascot
•Caldecott • carrycot • apricot
•boycott • dovecote • sandlot • melilot
•polyglot • Camelot • ocelot
•monoglot • sub-plot • Lancelot
•cachalot • counterplot • Wilmot
•guillemot • motmot • bergamot
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"boycott." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "boycott." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-boycott.html "boycott." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-boycott.html |
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