A boycott is an act of voluntary and intentional abstention from using, buying or dealing with a person, organization or country as an expression of protest, generally for social, political or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict some economic loss on the target, or to indicate a moral outrage, to try to force the target to alter objectionable behavior.
Sometimes a boycott can be a form of activism of the consumer, sometimes called moral purchase. When a similar practice is legislated by a national government, it is known as a sanction.
The term dates back to the mid-20th century, when Irish Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott managed land in his hometown and used to oppose the demands of working farmers and demanding better working conditions. Meanwhile, his neighbors, upset by this attitude, cannot work for him or provide the service they need, with the intention of pressing to accept the requests of the peasants.
Hence the concept and the application that we give today when we want to call a negative action that is executed against a person, company or country, mainly in the economic field, with the mission that the affected person modify the attitude adopted in some aspect and that complicates the present of a group.
And for those who like anecdotes, we must point out that the pressure Boycott received was such that he ended up allying himself in England.
Although the boycott is applied mainly in economic and commercial contexts, it also tends to be social or labor.
Economic boycott is about not carrying out any economic transactions with companies, country or any specific person, as a measure of retaliation for certain actions. For example, there has been an economic boycott (we can also speak of a commercial boycott) of countries with dictatorial regimes. The boycott is a measure contrary to the normal development of trade, and always affects third parties, not just those to whom it is directed. For example, if you do a boycott against French champagne, you are hurting manufacturers, employees and their families, transporters, packaging manufacturers and other suppliers, etc., which is probably not related to the problem. that caused the boycott and will pay the consequences unfairly.
In Spain, if the boycott is carried out by companies in an organized manner, the Antitrust Law will be violated and, therefore, it will be an illegal act. But carrying out the boycott on a personal level is not illegal, since each person is free to buy or not a specific product, although in many countries the incitement to the boycott and its propaganda are punishable offenses.