Who would have thought that the term“Boycott” comes from a social episode in Ireland? Charles Cunningham Boycott (1832-1897), the Earl of Erne’s English steward (formerly a soldier in His Majesty’s army) in Ireland, became the victim of a mass movement of the rural population in 1879, which applied the principle that would later bear his name: the cessation of all personal, economic and professional relations.
The Great Irish Famine – Domaine PublicAutumn
After some thought, the landlord summoned his tenants and informed them of his answer: a firm and definitive “no”. He refuses to lower his tenants’ rents, believing that he has been wronged in this case.
The large number of tenants soon decided to get together and improvise a quarantine of the UK. Their idea is simple: cut Charles Cunningham Boycott off from all economic and social relations with the rest of the population. Refuse to sell him anything, refuse to talk to him, refuse to approach him… etc. The “boycott” as we know it was born. (The term comes from the name of its first victim).
It was Charles Stewart Parnell, a Protestant lawyer and young Meath MP who headed the Home Rule League, a political movement calling for land reform, who encouraged this form of struggle. This repressive system became widespread throughout Ireland. Thus, landowners who were evicted found themselves overnight, without servants, without mail, banned from stores and so on…
Through the media of the time, his name became synonymous with this kind of action, and has crossed continents and ages. Even today, boycotting is a technique used in many countries…
