Can you boycott an entire country? And, should you?

In our latest video we are discussing boycotts of countries.
Can you really boycott a whole country like China, Israel, Russia or Myanmar?

And if you can - should you?

Discover more about boycotts on our boycott list:

[AnnaChristina-zw]

My issue is also that the "Made In" isn't always right, like you can have proudcts created in Chinese slavery, but since their packaged in places for the disabled they're then labeld "Made In Germany"..I'm pretty sure not every bottle of water (should drink tap water anyway if you can healthily) that I scanned was "Made In Germany"..if you go with Israel the only time I've seen that written out till now was on the 🍊 and who says you can't have a package making in Israel a fill in in france and a label in Belgium..
for all I know the "Mochis" in my Oriental store (that part of the sentence alone) were created in the Netherlands.

[natalieminnis]

About 15 years ago I started boycotting the US, due to its relentless military invasions, drone strikes and expansion of bases. I also boycotted Israel, and I was careful to check where products I bought came from. But after a while I relaxed my boycott because as someone born in the UK, I and millions of others have protested strongly against the invasion of Iraq, but our government just ignored us. There are many fantastic small and medium sized US firms that I positively want to support, and their staff and owners may hate war and military expansion. I have travelled to Israel and met many nice people there too, who probably have little choice in the behaviour of their government.
I boycott some corporates now, including the giant online one that ramped up profits and sent rockets to space at a time when other businesses around the world were forced to close. However even in that case, if there's a product I really want that I can only buy from that company, I will relax my boycott, because it's not about me being "pure" or "moral" - to my mind it's about "buy-cotting", positively supporting smaller enterprises in the hope that we can have a healthy, flourishing marketplace.

[leacandle]

Great video about such a complicated topic! I really like that you used different examples and historical references. Personally, while I feel like boycotting a country may be a detriment to innocent citizens living there, it's interesting how we can use the economy to fight against institutional discrimination. Companies who want to sell products to democratic people should have democratic values, and being complicit in violence is not one.

[gemminycricket]

I think one of the issues with boycotting a country is pretty much every country in the world is doing something “boycottable”, I especially think this as someone who lives in the U.K.
However, that being said, I think listening to affected groups in an area is important and we should follow their lead.

I do also think often the boycott is specifically to the “state” not the people
For example, a number of celebrities have been criticised for performing for state officials in the UAE, BUT I’ve seen very few criticisms for artists having a tour date for ordinary people in the same region, especially if they then provide a safe space for those who may be oppressed in that country (e.g. LGBTQ people).

Another example is in the Israelism film, there were young Americans who took their Birthright trips to also learn about Palestinians and to visit Gaza/The West Bank.

It’s definitely possible to show solidarity whilst potentially “breaking” a boycott I guess.

I also think it’s important to follow official calls to boycott, as then it’s organised and has a specific demand- and can actually win!

We’ve also seen just pressure without boycotts working. How many companies have U-turned when a decision is proven unpopular and affects their brand?
So I think this is just as important.

[allanchanali]

What is the difference between a boycott and a girlcott?

[djinghiskhan]

I have a question. Should you boycott a country based on your ignorance and susceptibility to US propaganda i.e. The false claim on Uyghur genocide that the UN debunked.?

[barriocubalindo]

Seems to me you are unethical for supporting American uk regime color revolution in HK and the BS about the ungurs. Now i know your site is BS