Brewing a Boycott
How a Grassroots Coalition Fought Coors and Remade American Consumer Activism
Allyson P. Brantley
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Published: 04/2021
Pages: 304
Subject: History, Political Science
Print ISBN: 9781469661032
eBook ISBN: 9781469661049
DESCRIPTION
In the late twentieth century, nothing united union members,
progressive students, Black and Chicano activists, Native
Americans, feminists, and members of the LGBTQ+ community quite as
well as Coors beer. They came together not in praise of the ice
cold beverage but rather to fight a common enemy: the
Colorado-based Coors Brewing Company. Wielding the consumer boycott
as their weapon of choice, activists targeted Coors for allegations
of antiunionism, discrimination, and conservative political ties.
Over decades of organizing and coalition-building from the 1950s to
the 1990s, anti-Coors activists molded the boycott into a powerful
means of political protest.
In this first narrative history of one of the longest boycott campaigns in U.S. history, Allyson P. Brantley draws from a broad archive as well as oral history interviews with long-time boycotters to offer a compelling, grassroots view of anti-corporate organizing and the unlikely coalitions that formed in opposition to the iconic Rocky Mountain brew. The story highlights the vibrancy of activism in the final decades of the twentieth century and the enduring legacy of that organizing for communities, consumer activists, and corporations today.
In this first narrative history of one of the longest boycott campaigns in U.S. history, Allyson P. Brantley draws from a broad archive as well as oral history interviews with long-time boycotters to offer a compelling, grassroots view of anti-corporate organizing and the unlikely coalitions that formed in opposition to the iconic Rocky Mountain brew. The story highlights the vibrancy of activism in the final decades of the twentieth century and the enduring legacy of that organizing for communities, consumer activists, and corporations today.
RELATED TITLES
