UK riots: who is responsible?

2011 Tottenham riots on High Road (c) Victoria

Copycats, mindless thugs and disenfranchised youth are all terms that have been used to describe those who have taken part in the disturbances over the last few nights. But do any of these descriptions explain what, or, why it is taking place?

We know that the first riot that took place in Tottenham started largely as a result of the killing of Mark Duggan. However, this soon mutated from anger at the reaction of the police and IPCC, to one which focussed on looting local businesses. Looting seems to have been the primary objective for those rioting. It has been reported at any number of sites throughout London, and has since spread across Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester, amongst other areas.  

One might see these rioters simply as copycats.  I am presuming that this term has been widely used in the media to denigrate those taking part in the riots, and to make them think that their actions are not as good as those that did it originally. However, this misses the point. They are not necessarily looting to look as “good” or as “hard” as their forebears. From Blackberry messages that have been made public (see Newsnight link), they appear to be looting to make some money. Is this the work of mindless thugs?

No. Everyone wants to make money.  This is exactly what the capitalist society is about, but some people are less able to make money in this socially divided society in which we live. This is as ideological as it is economical. 

At the same time, people see politicians, the police, bankers and multinational corporations loot the public purse to line their own. And whilst I agree that this is not an excuse to start rioting/looting, one has to consider whether this kind of “criminal” behaviour has a knock-on effect, given that we still live in a largely hierarchical society.

Tonight’s Newsnight has suggested that amongst those arrested for rioting/looting, are people from the traditional middle class backgrounds. Please check on the BBC iPlayer tomorrow for evidence of this report. If so, this hints at something more than the disenfranchised youth who live on council estates as being responsible for the riots.

For the purposes of this blog, I do not condone any of the actions taken by the rioters/looters over the past four nights. The riots are especially distressing for those that have been left frightened, and for those that have lost their livelihoods and property. I thoroughly understand their frustrations (please see my next post on this).

Whilst these actions are not justifiable, we need to understand why people are rioting/looting. We need to talk to them and we need to understand what it is they are saying on a personal and cultural level, so that we can try to avoid future disturbances.

My fear is that this is only going to lead to more punitive measures that target specific communities, and that it provides the coalition government with an excuse to make cuts in welfare services that negatively affect those self same people. This will not address the problems that we have in our society, namely that greed is good, but will serve to divide society more by stereotyping, and further excluding, those who are already marginalised by consumerism.