Boycott eurovision singing to the song of its own tune: Global boycotts as sites of hybridity

ABSTRACT

Following (Kraidy, M. M., & Murphy, P. D. (2003). Media ethnography: Local, global, or translocal? In P. D. Murphy & M. M. Kraidy (Eds.), Global media studies: Ethnographic perspectives (pp. 299–307). Routledge; Kraidy, M. M., & Murphy, P. D. (2008). Shifting Geertz: Toward a theory of translocalism in global communication studies. Communication Theory, 18(3), 335–355. 10.1111/j.1468-2885.2008.00325.x) call to look at global communication through lenses of translocalism and hybridity, I find that global boycotts are hybridized sites that facilitate translocal recognition. Using Boycott Eurovision as a case study, two locales are investigated: petitions and Globalvision. By uncovering the translocal recognition in each locale, global boycotts become crucial avenues of inquiry to understand how global social movements grapple with globalization. The essay describes the importance of understanding the vulnerabilities of international boycotts’ hybridized status, calling forward analysis of structure, specific initiatives, and the enactments of hegemonic ideologies found in locales.

KEYWORDS:

• translocalism
• BDS
• petitions
• settler-colonialism
• coalition-building

Acknowledgments

A previous version of this article was presented at the 2020 National Communication Association conference in an online format. My deepest gratitude to Matt Parnell, Dr. Gordana Lazić, Dr. Stephen H. Browne, gelay, Katelyn Johnson, and anonymous reviewers, whose community of labor, support, and feedback helped me create and better this article. Thank you to all the individuals involved in this special issue for creating a space to promote Palestinian voices when we are usually silenced. To my people, بحبكم لاخر الدنيا. Free Palestine.

Notes

1 I utilize the language of ’48 Palestine to illustrate the land of Palestine before the Nakba on May 15, 1948. This vernacular move follows the lead of activists, grassroots organizations, and Palestinians living in the homeland as a way to describe Palestine before the creation of Israel as a land that stretched from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.