Book excerpt: Gary Minda's critical study of boycotts in American law and culture focuses on how the word boycott has developed as a metaphoric, rather than as a rational or logical, form of reasoning. Minda first discusses the history, interpretation, and understanding of boycotts. He then turns to the role of metaphor in the interpretation of boycotts and of boycott law. Drawing on cognitive psychology and linguistic theory, Minda argues that the metaphors judges choose in describing boycotts determine how they view boycotts. One of Minda's major contributions is to show how cognitive theory and the analysis of conceptual metaphors can help to explain the development of the law of boycott. Equally important, Minda provides a unique history of the boycotts in three separate legal fields: labor, antitrust, and constitutional law.