The history of boycotts in Germany since the late 19th century

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Gabriele Lingelbach
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2013 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 235877079

Focusing on consumer boycotts in Germany since the late 19th century, this project analyses their effects on the implementation of ethical values and political aims in capitalist markets. Boycotts are understood as campaigns in which activists ask customers to abstain from purchasing certain commodities or services, or to avoid supporting a particular company. Hence, boycotts rely on civic activism. This project will describe boycotts as a special form of consumer activism from the activists' point of view and thus contribute to the study of social movements.In particular, an analysis of the strategies used by boycott activists allows conclusions concerning the social conditions of their actions as they always act within specific social environments. The choice of boycott targets, campaign tactics and political aims can be understood as an expression of particular social structures. Therefore, discussion of the historical evolution of boycotts provides a chance to understand the development of prevailing social circumstances over a long period of time. This concerns economic structural changes as well as political shifts and transformations in the realm of media coverage. Moreover, the project brings into focus the impact of different boycott campaigns. By considering how far boycott activists were able to influence market structures by way of certain moral ideals, the project demonstrates the social embeddedness of collective market action. Finally, the project also contributes to the study of morality in its historical dimension because it analyses the changing moral and ethical goals of boycott activists. As such, this research project participates in the fields of social history, economic history, and cultural history. Its interdisciplinary approach allows for a critical evaluation of common fields on research, including research on moral economy, political consumerism, social movements and the history of consumption. The analysis will be based on archival documents and aims at a reappraisal of the history of boycotts. It does so by focusing on the social movements that carried out particular boycotts and on the related political and consumerist implications, thereby closing existing research gaps in these fields and opening new perspectives on the economic history of the 20th century.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants