Boycotts Past and Present: From the American Revolution to the Campaign to Boycott Israel

Description

In this book historians and social scientists examine boycotts from the eighteenth century to the present day. Employed in struggles against British rule in the American colonies, against racial discrimination in the United States during the Civil Rights movement, and Apartheid in South Africa, today it is Israel that is the focus of a campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). Boycotts have featured in campaigns undertaken by labour, consumer and nationalist movements. Jews were the focus of some boycotts instigated by nationalist movements in Central and Eastern Europe and Jewish businesses were targeted by the National Socialist regime in Germany. In this collection, contributors explore the history of past boycott movements and examine the different narratives put forward by proponents and opponents of the current BDS movement directed against Israel: one which places the movement within a history of struggles for ‘human rights’; the other which regards BDS as the latest manifestation of an antisemitic tradition. Front Matter ....Pages i-xviii Boycotts: From the American Revolution to BDS (David Feldman)....Pages 1-19 Consumer Boycotts in Modern History: States, Moral Boundaries, and Political Action (Frank Trentmann)....Pages 21-39 In Defense of the Nation: Protectionism and Boycotts in the Habsburg Lands, 1844–1914 (Michael L. Miller)....Pages 41-52 The Enemy Within: The Anti-Jewish Boycott and Polish Right-Wing Politics in the Early Twentieth Century (Grzegorz Krzywiec)....Pages 53-71 Zionist “Buy National” Campaigns in Interwar Palestine (Hizky Shoham)....Pages 73-95 Picketing Jewish-Owned Businesses in Nazi Germany: A Boycott? (Christoph Kreutzmüller)....Pages 97-113 Boycott Campaigns of the Radical Left in Cold-War West Germany (Alexander Sedlmaier)....Pages 115-138 “The Onward March of a People Who Desire to Be Totally Free”: The 1953 Baton Rouge Bus Boycott (Derek Charles Catsam)....Pages 139-156 The United Farm Workers Union and the Use of the Boycott Against American Agribusiness (Lori A. Flores)....Pages 157-174 Sanctions Against South Africa: Myths, Debates, and Consequences (Yehonatan Alsheh)....Pages 175-196 Sanctioning Apartheid: Comparing the South African and Palestinian Campaigns for Boycotts, Disinvestment, and Sanctions (Lee Jones)....Pages 197-217 A Collision of Frames: The BDS Movement and Its Opponents in the United States (Sina Arnold)....Pages 219-241 The British Summer of 2014: Boycotts, Antisemitism, and Jews (Dave Rich)....Pages 243-259 Palestine: Boycott, Localism, and Global Activism (Philip Marfleet)....Pages 261-286 The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement and Radical Democracy (John Chalcraft)....Pages 287-310 Moral-Historical Questions of the Anti-Israel Boycott (Jeremy Krikler)....Pages 311-331 Back Matter ....Pages 333-352