Boycotts and Embargoes -The Political Uses of Economic Power in the 20th Century, Bochum, Germany, October 2008
Die politische Nutzung wirtschaftlicher Markt- und Machtverhältnisse
im 20. Jahrhundert
Boycotts and Embargoes - The Political Uses of Economic Power in the Twentieth Century
Workshop at the Ruhr-University Bochum, October 10/11 2008
Tagung am 10. und 11. Oktober 2008 an der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, in den Räumen des Hauses der Geschichte des Ruhrgebiets, Clemensstr. 17-19, 44789 Bochum
Embargoes and Boycotts stand at the intersection of economic, political, social, and cultural history: In the 19th and 20th Centuries they were increasingly used in order to achieve non-economic goals by economic means. Through intentional interruptions of supply or demand various actors try to publicly emphasize and enforce their political and social demands or even to realize them. Above all, states use embargoes in order to force other governments to change their political behavior. The consequences of embargoes, however, are not confined to few actors in politics and the economy, but rather they affect the population as a whole in often unforeseeable ways.Since - so far - boycotts and embargoes have not been among the prime subjects of historiography, the workshop should deal with very basic questions concerning the use of economic power for non-economic purposes: In how far is it possible to separate economic and non-economic or even genuine political goals from each other? What are the characteristics of a "non-commercial" boycott and when do we talk of an embargo? Who are the participants in the campaigns and who has the opportunity to participate? What are the political, communicative, and medial conditions for boycotts and embargoes to take place? Under which economic, political and social conditions can they be successful? What are the criteria in order to define success and failure of boycotts, embargoes, and their unintentional consequences? What were the cultural practices of boycotts and embargoes in the 19th and 20th Centuries? Can they be classified into different groups? In how far did they change over time and were they interdependent?
IISC Assistant Director, Dr Stephen Wilkinson presented a paper at this conference entitled: 'When is an embargo not an embargo? 50 years of successful failure in US policy towards Cuba'
To access the paper please click on the icon below:
For further information about the workshop please contact Prof. Ruediger Graf:
Workshop webpage HERE
The final programme of the workshop is available by clicking on the icon below:
