Boycotts

A boycott withholds purchases, labor, cooperation, or participation to impose economic or reputational pressure. A buycott directs purchases toward an approved firm or cause. Effectiveness depends on coordination, substitution, duration, publicity, and whether the target can absorb or evade the cost. A boycott is not defined by anger or by a campaign hashtag; participants must redirect behavior in a way that creates use.

Protest communicates visibly; boycott withdraws economic or social cooperation; civil disobedience deliberately violates law without making violence its method; political violence relies on physical coercion or threat. An event may combine tactics, but one participant's violence does not logically redefine every peaceful participant's action.

Video lesson: Dr Cohen on Political Participation Explained | Voting, Protest & Civic Engagement