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Analysis: Do Boycotts Work?

05/06/2023

Do Boycotts Work?

BBC Radio 4 - Analysis, Do Boycotts Work?

Do boycotts lead to change or are they lazy activism? David Baker investigates

Entire countries, athletes and companies can all face boycotts for a myriad of reasons, but does this form of activism ever lead to permanent change? David Baker investigates.

Boycotts are big at the moment. On a global scale, many countries are boycotting Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. There are campaigns to boycott products produced in Turkey, Israel or China. Sporting boycotts are used by countries across the world to express their displeasure with their international rivals. And there are plenty of boycotts going on against companies, over working practices, supply chains and political stances. 

But international boycotts can be easily circumvented, and we can choose alternative products if we don't like a particular manufacturer. So is this low risk activism, or is it an effective way for ordinary people to hold businesses and nations to account? Do boycotts ever lead to permanent change?

Above all, do they work? Journalist and writer David Baker investigates. 

Presenter: David Baker 
Producer: Ravi Naik 
Editor: Clare Fordham 
Sound Engineer: Nicky Edwards 
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele

Contributors: 
Caroline Heldman Associate Professor of politics at Occidental College, Los Angeles 
Stephen Chan Professor of World Politics at SOAS, University of London
Mark Borkowski PR and Crisis Management agent 
Rob Harrison Director of Ethical Consumer  
Xinrong Zhu Assistant Professor in Marketing at Imperial College London Business School
Richard Wilson Director and co-founder, Stop Funding Hate 
Professor Ellis Cashmore sociologist and cultural critic
Ben Jamal Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Pinar Yildrim Associate Professor of Marketing at the Wharton (Business) School at the University of Pennsylvania

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