In 30 states, there are rules that prevent pension funds from investing in companies that will not do business with Israel. By making this move, Ben & Jerry’s not only exposes itself to accusations of “terrorism”, but in the United States, it creates legal problems for itself. The president of Israel called the move “a new kind of terrorism” that would have “serious consequences” for the company.
Its stand against Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land was certain to bring with it a strong backlash. Its campaigns aren’t those you would pick if you were in the business of scoring easy political points. One of its most senior roles is that of “head of global activism strategy”. It is a company that has always been forthright about its politics, with a long record of supporting political causes that include criminal justice reform, voter registration, campaign finance reform and climate justice. But look again, and a different picture emerges.īen & Jerry’s is no newcomer to the progressive values game. It would not be unreasonable to assume this was another example of social justice reputation laundering. You are welcome to roll your eyes at the incongruity of “ice-cream vendor” and high political activism. The company released a statement saying “we believe it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”. Last week, Ben & Jerry’s announced that it would no longer allow sales in Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land. There are, however, times when it isn’t all a cynical exercise to forestall criticism or sell more units. The year since the Black Lives Matter protests has exposed the gap between internal practices and pledges of support for racial equality in many companies, with employees coming out to protest against what they see as tokenistic gestures.
But the appearance of change, rather than any seismic shift, is what these corporates seem to prefer. These solidarity shout-outs are a safe, low-cost way both to get ahead of any internal issues that might end up being exposed, and to win over the sorts of customers who make political change part of their consumer habits. There is little actual activism going on here. Over the past few years, the subversive energy of popular movements for equality, whether #MeToo or Black Lives Matter, has regularly been appropriated by corporations.īig businesses tend to have a good nose for trends that could affect their bottom lines, and so move early to show support for whatever fashionable cause has broken through. T here is possibly only one thing worse for social justice movements than getting no recognition, and that is getting too much.
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