Reclaiming the everyday: the situational dynamics of the 2011 London Riots

Abstract

This paper examines the situational dynamics of the 2011 London Riots. The empirical contribution is to challenge the dominant explanation of the riots as an outbreak of 'criminal opportunism'. I use the Metropolitan Police record of all riotrelated crimes in London to test several hypotheses and show that this 'criminal opportunism' theory cannot account for the riots' spatial patterning. This opens space for alternative explanatory mechanisms. I then use video footage and testimonies of events on the ground to examine the interactions which made up the London Riots. These suggest that the riots were, in part, a way for people to stake a claim to the public spaces in which they lived, to reclaim the everyday. Theoretically this builds on Randall Collins's 'micro-situational' approach to violence (2008) but extends it by embedding historical and structural factors into that micro perspective. Specifically, the emotional dynamics of these riot interactions cannot be understood without acknowledging participants' pre-existing expectations of the police and of the everyday places of the riot.

A social identity model of riot diffusion: From injustice to empowerment in the 2011 London riots

“…Moreover, targets of looting and property damage often reflected anti-corporate attitudes (Ball & Drury, 2012) or desire to control familiar space (Tiratelli, 2017).…”

“…Deprivation was also a predictor of participation (Kawalerowicz & Biggs, ; Lightowlers, ). Moreover, targets of looting and property damage often reflected anti‐corporate attitudes (Ball & Drury, ) or desire to control familiar space (Tiratelli, ).…”

Recent developments in the psychology of crowds and collective behaviour

“…Anti-police sentiment was a key motivation [9] and participants felt empowered by successfully challenging police [10]. Control of familiar space was a further motivation [11]. A study of the emergence of conflict in two London location demonstrated the applicability of an ESIM analysis, by showing that conflict arose when police actions were perceived as an illegitimate attack on community members [12].…”

Who controls the city?

“…The combination of police racism and class deprivation help explain some of the spatial and geographical patterns of the 2011 riots. Thus, Tiratelli's (2017) analysis of offences recorded during the riots in London suggests that choice of location reflected disadvantaged participants taking control of urban spaces within which they normally felt disempowered.…”

“…First, there was geographical spread, initially across London, and then to some but not all major urban centres in the Midlands and the north-west of England across the next few days (Guardian/LSE, 2011;Newburn, 2016). Second, although portrayed in much of the British media as mindless or simply "criminal," studies of the disturbances evidence a pattern of targets of the crowd that reflected complex underlying motives (Ball and Drury 2012;Johnson 2012, 2013;Guardian/LSE, 2011;Newburn et al 2016;Reicher and Stott 2011;Stott et al, 2016Stott et al, , 2018Tiratelli, 2017).…”