Consumer boycotts transformed economic power into political power in colonial America

Evidence

The Stamp Act was experienced as a violation of the colonists’ rights not only as subjects of the empire but also as consumers of the empire: it was the first translation of consumers’ economic power into political power, a “radically new form of politics” in which the most ordinary members of colonial society experienced “an exhilarating surge of empowerment.” — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1596

Categorization

• SEED: Article angle: consumer boycotts as the original mechanism for translating market position into political agency — a throughline from colonial nonimportation to modern platform boycotts.
• XREF: connects to: Ethical consumerism replaced political boycott with paid market-based moral gestures — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 405; Consumer boycotts forged American national identity before political independence — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1600; The colonial currency’s association with taxes drove local resistance to it — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 58 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Consumer boycotts forged American national identity before political independence #corroborates (0.95) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1600
• Colonial discontents converged on trade ruin and demands for a free press #expands (0.80)
• The colonial currency’s association with taxes drove local resistance to it #corroborates (0.75) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 58