The Right to Boycott

Abstract

I am pleased to submit this commentary for the special issue on the intersection of social justice and intellectual freedom. The ALA Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT) has been working for several years on an issue that perfectly exemplifies the intersection of social justice and intellectual freedom: the right to engage in political boycotts.

At the ALA Annual Conference on June 26, 2022, SRRT sponsored a program titled “Libraries, Free Speech, and Anti-Boycott Laws,” featuring Luna Martinez, from the Center for Constitutional Rights; Alan Leveritt, publisher of the Arkansas Times, which is challenging Arkansas’s anti-boycott law; and a message from Brian Hauss, the chief litigator from the ACLU on behalf of the Arkansas Times. This case is on its way to the US Supreme Court. We also introduced a “Resolution in Defense of the Right to Engage in Political Boycotts” (2021–2022 ALA CD#55). SRRT is trying to work with the ALA intellectual freedom bodies, and we are happy to report that our resolution was endorsed by the Intellectual Freedom Round Table and an amended version of our resolution easily passed the ALA Membership Meeting. However, it was defeated at the ALA Council by a vote of 51 yes, 83 no, and 9 abstentions.