The strange power of art is sometimes it can show that what people have in common is more urgent than what differentiates them. It seems to me it's something that theatre can do, but it's rare; it's very rare.
John BergerRead
Boycott is not a principle. When it becomes one, it itself risks becoming exclusive and racist. No boycott, in our sense of the term, should be directed against an individual, a people, or a nation as such.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Boycotting should not be rooted in principle, as it can lead to exclusion and racism.
John Berger's quote asserts that while boycotts can be powerful tools for social and political change, they should not evolve into rigid principles that target specific individuals, peoples, or nations. When boycotts become absolute, they risk fostering divisiveness and can perpetuate cycles of exclusion and discrimination, undermining their original intent of promoting justice and equality.
Themes
BoycottPrincipleExclusionRacismSocial Change
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on social justice, one might quote this to emphasize the need for inclusive movements.
More from John Berger
All quotes →Unlike any other visual image, a photograph is not a rendering, an imitation or an interpretation of its subject, but actually a trace of it. No painting or drawing, however naturalist, belongs to its subject in the way that a photograph does.
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We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves.
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The camera relieves us of the burden of memory. It surveys us like God, and it surveys for us. Yet no other god has been so cynical, for the camera records in order to forget.
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Propaganda requires a permanent network of communication so that it can systematically stifle reflection with emotive or utopian slogans. Its pace is usually fast.
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Being a unique superpower undermines the military intelligence of strategy. To think strategically, one has to imagine oneself in the enemy's place. If one cannot do this, it is impossible to foresee, to take by surprise, to outflank. Misinterpreting an enemy can lead to defeat. This is how empires fall.
John BergerRead
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