Assessing the Nestlé Boycott: Corporate Accountability and Human Rights

The cause of human rights is frequently disparaged among business executives, faculty, and students. This is regrettable for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that human rights concerns are an increasingly prominent part of the business environment. The recently resolved consumer boycott of the Nestle company provides an important case study of the manner in which the conflicts between human rights and commercial interests ebb, flow, and sometimes produce profound changes. The infant formula controversy, and the Nestle boycott as its most visible manifestation, were precedent-setting events in modern American business industry.