Consumer Activism for Social Change. Issue 4 (27th September 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lightfoot, Elizabeth Bradford
• Is Part Of: Social work. Volume 64:Issue 4(2019)
• Page Start: 301
• Page End: 309
• Publication Date: 2019-09-27
• Subjects: buycotts -- macro practice -- protests -- social action; Social service -- Periodicals; Social service -- United States -- Periodicals; Social policy -- Periodicals; Social problems -- Periodicals; 361.3
• DOI: 10.1093/sw/swz035
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0037-8046

Abstract

Abstract: Consumer activism, or activism taken by consumers through participating in the market such as through boycotts or ethical shopping, is the most common form of political action in the United States aside from voting. Although consumer activism was a popular macro practice social work intervention by social work pioneers and has been an important part of many social change movements internationally, it is rarely discussed formally in the field of social work in the United States today. This article provides an overview of consumer activism as a social work intervention, describes historical and 21st century examples of consumer activism, and discusses the effectiveness of consumer activism. The article ends with a discussion of the strengths and challenges of consumer activism for social workers who engage in it either professionally or personally.