The 2011 England Riots

Transcription

1 (The Economist 2011) Bachelor thesis December 2012 Aarhus School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University Department of Business Communication: English - Spanish Supervisor: Annemarie Backmann Number of characters (ex. of blanks): Abstract: 1,800 Thesis: 43,985

2 Abstract The eruption of the 2011 England riots made it clear that serious problems in soceity had caused the riots. The purpose with this bachelor thesis is to examine the 2011 England riots, and the aim of this thesis is to provide an account of the origins and development of the riots and an analysis of possible causes. In order to work with the topic and examine what caused the 2011 England riots to erupt, a number of books and articles have been used, along with two reports. They are Reading the Riots by The Guardian and The London Schools of Economics, and After the Riots by The Riots Communities and Victims Panel. The reports provide facts and knowledge on what happened during the riots, but also recommendations for improvements in British society. The account functions as the background, and provides facts of what happened on a day-to-day level, for the subsequent analysis. The problem of social cohesion and the questions of equality and education are analysed to reach some answers explaining why the riots erupted. Social cohesion deals with minimising disparity and avoiding marginalisation in society, but also of having a social behaviour. During the riots the lack of social cohesion became obvious. Through the analysis of equality and education, or rather the lack of it, it can be concluded that an increasing gap between rich and poor in society, low level of social mobility, distrust in society, lack of education and opportunites, and a growing unemployment rate all resulted in a lack of social cohesion, which ultimately triggered the riots to happen. By looking at the aftermath of the riots, recommendations for the future state that it is important to remove the sense of alienation and make it possible to achieve a stake in society. During the riots a lot of people volunteered to clean up the street after the vandalism. Those people showed a sense of community spirit that did not exist during the riots, and this is important to increase the level of social cohesion. Finally, demonstrations against austerity measures are a tendency in Europe, and as the causes of the riots, disparity in society decreases social cohesion. Number of characters (ex. of blanks): 1,800

3 Table of contents 1.0 Introduction & Problem Statement An account of the riots August August August August August August Major causes of the riots Social cohesion Equality Education The aftermath of the riots Most plausible reasons for the riots Putting the topic into perspective Conclusion Bibliography Appendix

4 1.0 Introduction & Problem Statement On 4 August a man was shot by the police in Tottenham. Only two days later riots erupted in London and in the following days other cities joined in, in what turned out to be a groundshaking occurrence not soon to be forgotten. Shops were vandalised and looted for goods. Riots were breaking out in different cities across England. Rioters put up resistance to the police, which quickly made the headlines. Unable to stop the rioters, the police had to call in reinforcements. It was only the enormous number of police officers in the streets and the killing of three innocent men that made it possible to stop the riots. They ended on 10 August leaving England with massive social problems to sort out (The Guardian, LSE 2011) This bachelor thesis is about the riots that took place in England in I find this issue highly interesting especially because of its topicality. The riots happened only a little over a year ago and they concern problems that are highly debated and extremely relevant in today s society, such as the responsibilities of the state and the individual respectively, poor job possibilities, and prevention of youth crime. These are just some of the relevant aspects, but they stand out as particularly evident when reading articles dealing with the 2011 England riots. It can be argued whose task it was to bring the riots to an end was it a police matter or a matter for the individual rioter? This is just one point showing how individuals and the state are balancing each other. Also, it was primarily juveniles and young adults that participated in the riots. The year olds accounted for around 79% of the rioters (The Guardian, LSE 2011). At the same time, Britain is struggling with the global financial crisis, a crisis which has skyrocketed the number of unemployed (BBC 2011). All these factors, and more, played a part in the looting and rioting that took place across England in On August 11 when the riots had ended, England woke up and was faced with having to understand the events of the previous days the looting, vandalism, and rioting in some of the larger cities across England, such as London, Liverpool, Birmingham, and Manchester (The Economist 2011). This thesis examines the riots and their underlying causes and will provide an account of the origins and development of the riots and an analysis of possible explanations for the rapid spread of the looting and violence across the country. An account of the origins and development of the 2011 riots and an anlysis of its possible causes. Page 1 of 24

5 The riots reflected serious problems in British society causing people to vandalize buildings and attack the police of their own free will, and did not cool down until a handful of innocent people lost their lives. This left British society and politicians with a harsh message to deal with. I will provide some answers that can explain why the killing of a black man (Bloom 2012a p. 76) could result in widespread civil disorder. In order to answer my problem statement, I will cover the following aspects of the riots. First, I will give an account of what happened when the riots erupted. The account will function as the background for the thesis, providing the basic facts for my subsequent analysis. Second, I will give an analysis of what caused the riots to happen, to reach a level of understanding of why the riots started in the first place. To provide some answers I will focus on the problem of social cohesion, and in relation to this, discuss the questions of equality and education, which make up important aspects of social cohesion. Social cohesion has to do with law-abiding behaviour and a shared identity (see 3.1 on social cohesion) (Green, Janmaat 2011). These were not present when the riots took place across England. Equality and education (or lack of the same) are closely related, and I believe that these two aspects contain answers to why the riots erupted. Analyses suggest that over half of the rioters came from the poorest and most deprived areas (The Guardian, LSE 2011). They felt marginalized and did not identify themselves with the rest of the nation. What they experienced was a gap between them and us. Education, or rather lack of education, is another highly debated issue and may possibly be a contributing factor to why the young people went on the streets. Politicians are debating why youngsters without an education and/or a job took part in the riots (The Guardian, LSE 2011). Yet as mentioned, I will try to show that the reasons go deeper and that the riots reveal fundamental problems in British society. Third, I will take a look at the aftermath of the riots as this may shed some light on the real ills in British society and put them into perspective. By including what has happened since August 2011, I seek to bring together the past and the present. Fourth, I will provide an assessment of the reasons why the riots started and got out of control. I will provide my own assessment of what explanation is the most plausible based on what I discover during the analysis. Next, I will put the topic into a wider perspective by taking a brief look at other incidents of social unrest that may shed light on the 2011 events in England, such as a previous occasion of social unrest in Britain itself, and the current situations with people demonstrating against austerity measures, cutbacks and government inefficiency in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece (Tremlett 2012) (The Guardian 2012a). Page 2 of 24

6 These will be included to demonstrate that the 2011 riots are not isolated events. Finally, I will conclude on my findings. The methodology used in this thesis is information retrieval since what I am occupied with is collecting information that can help me answer the questions posed in my problem statement. My paper is based on research of books, internet articles, and reports relating to the 2011 riots. Central to my research are the following titles: Clive Bloom (2012): Riot City for an account of the events during the riots. Bloom takes his reader into the riots, and paints a good day-by-day picture of what happened. Clive Bloom must be considered reliable. He is Emeritus Professor of English and American Studies at Middlesex University and has written a number of books. He is also employed by New York University and The University of Notre Dame (Bloom 2012b). The second central title is Reading the Riots published by The Guardian in co-operation with The London School of Economics. It provides information on what happened, core facts on who the rioters were, and explains the roles of different agents such as the police and the rioters, and comments on the importance of social cohesion. The report provides its readers with the information needed to gain a thorough understanding of what happened during the 2011 England riots (The Guardian, LSE 2011). Finally, my third central source is After the Riots by the Riots Communities and Victims Panel. This report was made on the request of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, and is an investigation of what went wrong, and how the riots could have been prevented. The panel emphasizes that the report looks at the events from a national perspective (Riots Communities and Victims Panel 2012), and by doing this it is able to accentuate the general discoveries. This is what this thesis, too, is trying to do: look at the riots from a national perspective rather than a local one. The material used stems from academics working in the field of social unrest and from quality newspapers, which ought to guarantee trustworthiness. I will, however, try to take a critical stance on my sources in the analysis of the riots. To sum up, what this thesis is trying to do is to accentuate the aspect of social cohesion, and in relation to this the questions of (in)equality and education, factors I believe have had an influence on the eruption of the riots. There may be other contributing factors such as race, ethnicity, and social media; however, for reasons of scope I will not go into further detail with these. I believe that the causes I am investigating will provide answers not only to why the Page 3 of 24

7 riots started, but also why they turned out so violent and with wide-ranging repercussions in British society. 2.0 An account of the riots August The riots started in London in August 2011, but soon spread to other cities such as Manchester, Liverpool, Gloucester and Birmingham (Bloom 2012a) (The Economist 2011). In order to gain an understanding of what happened during the riots this section will account for the event triggering the riots. It was the killing of the 29-year-old Mark Duggan in Tottenham that started the riots on 4 August Mark Duggan was shot by a police marksman. He had been under surveillance by the police because he was believed to be involved in drug trading. The police also suspected him of carrying a gun that they believed he had fired against them. The only thing the police could ascertain, however, was that Duggan was related to a criminal, killed in 2009, but there was no actual proof of Duggan being involved in drug trade. The police, admittedly, found a gun in Duggan s possesion, but it turned out that he had not fired it against the police. It was actually a police gunman that had fired his own gun (Bloom 2012a pp ), a fact that the IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Commission) subsequently tried to conceal. It became a day that would turn everything upside down and forever change England August On 6 August, two days after Duggan s death, a march took place and the destination was Tottenham Police Station. It was a protest against the killing of Mark Duggan and the participation of 100 people made the police request backup. A 16-year-old girl threw a bottle at a police officer and was pushed to the ground by the police as a consequence. Also, the girl was purportedly hit by batons before she was taken into custody. The scene was posted on YouTube, and it made people turn up to participate. The riots started for real. The police station s ground floor had to be evacuated when it was attacked with bricks and bottles. Bricks and bottles were also directed at police vehicles, and a number of them were set alight. Moreover, later that evening things became worse as looting spread to shops and banks across Page 4 of 24

8 Tottenham. Young people were stealing cars, crashing a shopping centre, damaging shops where the police were not present, and last, but not least, stealing electrical goods. All of this happened during the night. The march started at 5.30 pm and by 6 am 825 police officers had gained control of the streets (Bloom 2012a pp ). 42 arrests were made and 10 police officers were injured during the evening and night (Bloom 2012a p. 78) (The Guardian, LSE 2011) August This was the day when the gangs in Southern London set aside their internal rivalry and started to cooperate against the authorities. Riots were planned to take place in Tottenham, Enfield, and Walthamstow (Bloom 2012a), but also Ponders End, Chingford Mount, Brixton and Oxford Circus were among the scenes of riots, cf. appendix showing the areas of unrest (The Economist 2011). Despite the fact that young people came to the city by public transportation, it was not shut down, meaning that greater numbers of people than neccessary were able to participate in the riots. In Enfield and Ponders End things were intense. 600 rioters disguised in masks and hoods, and armed with petrol bombs and weapons, were taking the streets. The Sony Building in Enfield was set on fire by a group of 500 rioters. Fewer clashes with the police took place that night in Enfield, because focus now was on looting shops (The Guardian, LSE 2011). In Brixton lootings were brought to an end by the use of helicopters and lights. Even though the gangs planned their places of attack, it was the random and sponteaneous looting and vandalism across London that characterized this day (Bloom 2012a) August With things out of control and the media asking questions as to where the Prime Minister was, the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and the Mayor of London all returned to England from their summer holidays ahead of plans (Bloom 2012a) to face the situation. The London police were receiving reinforcements from surrounding counties, such as Kent, Cambridgeshire, and Surrey (Bloom 2012a p. 79). All together the police mustered 6,000 officers across London, with 1,900 trained in public order (Bloom 2012a). In Manchester and Birmingham the police were preparing plans in case the riots would spread to these places and they would. In London, Croydon was the worst affected by the riots on 8 August (The Guardian, LSE 2011). Shops and properties were looted by people Page 5 of 24

9 armed with petrol bombs and missiles intended for the police, but also onlookers were hit. In the fights between the police and the rioters, the rioters had the advantage since the police could not muster the support needed to force them back. Widespread destruction, looting of stores and unceasing attacks on the police continued, because it was obvious that the police were outnumbered (Bloom 2012a). Vandalism and lawlessness culminated when House of Reeves, the big furniture store, and surrounding buildings in Croydon were set on fire. The episode was broadcast on live television, and showed their collapse onto the tram line. Public fear reached a climax when no emergency vehicles or police officers were allowed near the place due to the fear of attacks (Bloom 2012a). Bloom (2012, p. 80) mentions an article in The Evening Standard referring to London as Lawless London, and the Economist calls London A City in Flames (S. 2011). 8 August was the day when the riots spread to cities outside London (cf. appendix showing the areas of unrest), and according to Bloom (2012) many people feared a general breakdown in law and order across the country. Police stations were set alight in Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. The riots there were different from the ones in London ethnic tension, hatred towards the police, and sheer opportunism were the key elements of those riots (Bloom 2012a p. 82) August By the 9 August violence, looting, and arson reigned in the streets. As was the case in London, the Greater Manchester Police also needed back-up (Bloom 2012a p. 82) their plans to prevent the riots had not worked. During the night the riots spread and more cities came under attack from rioters. A turning point occurred on Tuesday night when 3 men died because a speeding car did not stop and consequently smashed into them. They were protecting shops from being looted and vandalised. Their death caused widespread shock since innocent people could become the victims. After their death they were honoured by thousands of people for their effort (The Guardian, LSE 2011) (Neal 2011). An increasing number of police had arrived, counting 16,000 officers across London 3,750 trained in public order. It was enough to outnumber the rioters and the riots stopped in London. Page 6 of 24

10 August The riots continued on 10 August in Manchester and Birmingham, but by the afternoon they had subsided and the city centre of Manchester was again a safe place to be (Bloom 2012a p. 83). Things went back to normal, and after 4-5 days of trouble across England the riots had finally ended, but the debate, discussions, investigations, and clean-ups had just begun. 3.0 Major causes of the riots 3.1 Social cohesion This paragraph is dedicated to social cohesion. I will start out by defining social cohesion. I am looking at two defintions that neatly cover the meaning of social cohesion and are useful for my line of argumentation. According to Mustad et al. (2012, p. 38), and in the words of the Counsel of Europe, social cohesion is defined as (...) the capacity of a society to ensure the well-being of all its members, minimising disparities and avoiding marginalisation. This definition captures the eessence of social cohesion, including all members of society, not leaving out any groups. However, the definition accentuates society as the main agent for creating social cohesion. It is society s responsibility to ensure that the population adapt the principles of it. It does not leave room for any action on part of the individual to make social cohesion come about. Compared to what Mustad et al. (2012) say, Green et al. (2011) expand their definition. Green et al. (2011, p. 6) define social cohesion as being related to social attitudes and behaviours which, according to them, include: - Shared values and goals - A sense of belonging and common identity - Tolerance and respect for other individuals and cultures - Interpersonal and institutional trust - Civic cooperation - Active civic participation - Law-abiding behaviour Page 7 of 24

11 This definiton looks at the role of individuals to a greater extent. By stating that social cohesion is characterized by law-abiding behaviour and civic cooperation, it shows that the individual plays a significant role. The definiton emphasizes that it is not exclusively up to society to ensure cohesion. The authors mention that even though the aspects listed are what define social cohesion, this list is not generally accepted (Green, Janmaat 2011), unlike the definition of Mustad et al. (2012). choosing only to focus on society as the agent responsible for securing social cohesion. The riots are arguably closely connected to the issue of social cohesion, or rather the lack of it, as becoming obvious in the chaos, looting and offences against the police of August After the riots not surprisingly David Cameron referred to British society as a broken society (Green, Janmaat 2011 p. 164), and as broken Britain (Stratton 2011). Cameron stated that he would make his government figure out what went wrong. Cameron emphasized, however, that [t]hese riots were not about government cuts: they were directed at high street stores, not parliament. And these riots were not about poverty: that insults the millions of people who, whatever the hardship, would never dream of making others suffer like this. No, this was about behaviour (Stratton 2011) (see 5.0 on plausible causes for the riots). Several aspects of the riots address lack of social cohesion. The looting and vandalism of stores obviously reflect a society whose members are not doing fine with nor accepting growing unemployment rates reaching 8.4 % of the workforce in the beginning of 2012 (Mustad et al p. 33). The high unemployment rate results in feelings of marginalization, exclusion and not-belonging. People are not able to provide for themselves and the gap between people who succeed and people who do not will widen. Factors such as displacements and changes in income between people in society will naturally have an impact on their stance on social attitudes and behaviour. The mentioned factors will change and reduce social cohesion. Moreover, law-abiding behaviour in England was at a minimum in the rioting days of August Social cohesion was definitely at a low-point. Yet the people who helped clean up after the riots exemplified what social cohesion is about and how important it is for the well-being of a society. I will return to just this particular point later on (see 4.0 on the aftermath of the riots) Social cohesion is also about trust. It deals with whether or not people can trust each other and society. In a welfare system, means are being distributed by society to the needy, Page 8 of 24

12 and therefore confidence in society is an important and necessary part. People need to trust that the ones in necessity will receive the help they need to get back on their feet (Green, Janmaat 2011 p. 172). If people experience society s desertion, it will result in an increasing distrust, and it will have an impact on cohesion. Clearly, this is, partly, what went wrong in England. Where the gap between rich and poor is increasing faster than in other developed countries, it will lead to a decreaing trust in society, because it is not providing for the people in need. The wealthiest tenth in Britain is making 12 times as much money as the poorest (Beckford 2011). The increasing gap between rich and poor is an explanatory factor to the lack of social cohesion in contemporary Britain. Disparity is as pronounced as ever, which makes people feel the need to vent their frustration on society, as was the case with the looting of shops for material goods. The lack of social cohesion, then, is partly caused by inequality. What is problematic is that [i]nequality increases the social distance between groups, undermining inter-group trust and reducing the sense of common citizenship. As income and wealth gaps grow, disparate sections in society no longer feel they have a common interest and a mutual responsibility for each other. They are no longer members of the same society (Green, Janmaat 2011 p. 169). This quote clearly indicates the extent of the problem. Cohesion is decreasing and class differences are becoming more prominent. The next section will examine the question of inequality as a contributing factor to the riots and the increasing lack of social cohesion Equality The matter of equality in relation to riots will be examined in this section. According to the preceding section, it is inequality that causes disharmony, which will lead to a society more likely to protest, and with a greater need and desire to improve the situation. To have a desire to improve one s own living conditions is a natural part of life, and when people feel distanced from each other in society, riots can erupt as they did in August In this section I will include issues of equality, or rather inequality, but also the issue of social class since it affects the matter of equality. I find it relevant to briefly introduce social class; however, for reasons of scope I will not elaborate on it, but merely include it to show that difference in social class contributes to inequality. A survey conducted by the Riots Communities and Victims Panel showed that half of the respondents think that the gap Page 9 of 24

13 between rich and poor is increasing (Riots Communities and Victims Panel 2012). Furthermore, Reading the Riots states that, in general, the rioters were poorer than the national average. According to an analysis of over 1,000 court records The Guardian and The London School of Economics found that 59% of the rioters came from the 20% most deprived areas, whereas only 3% of the rioters came from the richest areas (The Guardian, LSE 2011 p. 5). Social class in Britain will always be an issue, which is made evident in the fact that it is about questions such as education, employment, (in)equality, and different opportunities available (Mustad et al p. 27), which are all worthy of discussion. These are all factors mentioned by Mustad et al. (2012), and I will address them all in this section on equality, or rather the lack of it. Today the issue of class is made visible in the differences between the majority of people in work, and the minority of people without a job, deprived, and excluded from the majority (Mustad et al. 2012). Social mobility is a reason why this difference becomes obvious. In Britain there is a low level of social mobility, which makes it difficult for children from poor families to excel and achieve a higher education than their parents. Those children are more likely to keep on the same level as their parents, and only gain a low income (Elliott 2010). There is no doubt that the issue of social class has played a part in why the riots erupted. If people from the most deprived areas of Britain are facing the prospect of never succeeding in life, and having to settle for the minimum wage with slim chances of changing their position in society, it seems understandable that they are willing to run the great risk of particpating in the riots. A participation that may help them to express themselves and give vent to their frustration and sense of injustice, but also to make somebody the object of their frustration and during the riots this object became the police. I also believe that the difference in class (Mustad et al p. 27) triggered the looting of stores. Because the gap between rich and poor is widening, people who have less will find it easier to feel that they are falling behing the group of people earning money and in general doing better. In this connection I am thinking of material goods, especially because 61% of the shops looted during the riots were retail premises (The Guardian, LSE 2011 p. 29). The high percentage emphasizes that the gap between rich and poor in Britain is increasing, but also that people are willing to break the law to achieve what they think they lack. The looting of shops has been described as the chance to obtain free things and free-for-all with no consequences (The Guardian, LSE 2011), which means that taking part in the looting may Page 10 of 24

14 have been more tempting, since many of the people who looted shops had never done anything illegal before (The Guardian, LSE 2011 p. 27). It seems reasonable to assume that people experienced that they could get the goods they wanted, and the price to pay was rather low. Since the police were struggling to maintain control of the streets, in many cases the cost of looting would be whether or not their conscience could handle it. Unemployment is another factor contributing to the lack of equality, which will contribute to widening the gap between rich and poor. Reading the Riots states that of the 270 interviewed nearly half of them were students, but for the other half of those not under education, unemployment accounted for 59% of them (The Guardian, LSE 2011 p. 4). Although the report did not interview all of the rioters, it indicates that unemployment is a predominant factor in the decreasing equality and helps explain why the riots happened. An unemployed man spoke some telling words of the whole situaion. He said: If I had a job I wouldn t be here now, yeah? I d be working. (The Guardian, LSE 2011 p. 25). For him the riots were a way to deal with his frustrations with being unemployed. Reading the Riots asked whether or not their interviewees felt part of British society, and only 51% of the rioters they asked said they did, compared to 92% of the population in general (The Guardian, LSE 2011 p. 25). For the rioters, inequality is a huge reason why they went on the streets in the beginning of August Inequality is disconnecting them from the rest of society, and causing them to lack the values shared by the rest of society, such as the factors defining social cohesion. What makes inequality an even more profound element of why the riots erupted is alienation from society. This negative sense of belonging was expressed by young people, since four-fifths of the people asked about their sense of belonging and uttering their lack of connection to society, were under 25 (The Guardian, LSE 2011 p. 25). From these facts it seems clear that the rioters lacked opportunities available to other people. Also, it was emphaszied in After the Riots that the lack of opportunities young people felt triggered the eruption of the riots (Bawdon 2012). Even though there were other contributing factors, e.g. suspicion of the police (Bawdon 2012), this exact factor stands out as essential for a society to be well-balanced and in control of events. An important aspect of unemployment is youth unemployment, which is rising, seeing that the number of the 16-to-24-year-olds without a job has increaed by 12% since last year (The Economist 2012). This statistic is clearly connected to the Panel s Neighbourhood Survey which discovered that within local areas, 83 per cent experience youth unemployment Page 11 of 24

15 to compose a problem, and also, 71 per cent believe that young peole lack opportunites of getting a job. Furthermore, the Panel states that research suggest that four per cent of young people have not been in employment, education, or training for a year by the time they turn 18 (Riots Communities and Victims Panel 2012). It is not difficult to understand that some young people feel that they lack opportunities. Everybody needs something to get one out of bed in the morning, something that will contribute to one s quality of life. With decreasing chances of a job, it seems clear that riots will erupt more easily with young people in need of something to aim their frustration at. According to the article Like a Bad Dream (2012) by The Economist the government made it possible for businesses to take in young people and train them according to the aim of their business. However, the high number of unemployed workers available works against the chances for the unemployed of getting hired, given that the employer can almost pick and choose among more experienced applicants. Lack of social cohesion naturally leads to inequality, which also takes us into the question of education. Young people are in need of something to make them dream of the future, in stead of feeling disconnected from society. They should be able to see their possibilities, rather than feeling they have none. A way to remove the sense of alienation is by giving people a stake in society. By doing so it will automatically improve social cohesion among the British population. The chairman, Darra Singh, on the report After the Riots states that [w]e must give everyone a stake in society. There are people 'bumping along the bottom', unable to change their lives. When people don't feel they have a reason to stay out of trouble, the consequences for communities can be devastating (BBC 2012). One step to improve the situation is by getting an education which will improve the job possibilities. As the rioter mentioned earlier said, he would not have participated if he had had a job. In other words making people achieve a stake in society starts with education Education The issue of education is the last aspect within social cohesion I will deal with, in order to find some answers explaining why the riots erupted. Education is an important element to address, because it is a part of social cohesion which played a significant part in why the riots erupted. According to a Neighbourhood Survey by the Riots Communities and Victims Panel (...) only 43 per cent of residents feel schools adequately prepare young people for work. Only 22 per cent feel public services are doing enough to address youth unemployment Page 12 of 24

16 (Riots Communities and Victims Panel 2012). Even though youth unemployment was dealt with under inequality it is a consequence of a lack of education in society. Around 15,000 people supposedly participated in the riots; the majority were young people under the age of 24 and with a poor level of education (BBC 2012). It is interesting that the majority were very young and that over half of the rioters came from some of the most deprived areas in England (see first paragraph under 3.1.1). These facts lead me to deal with how difference in income, an increasing element to inequality, determines the level of education available to children from different social classes. The increasing difference between rich and poor in Britain is resulting in the fact that children and young people end up with different levels of education. The British people are spending at least 6,000 per year on education for each of their children (Riots Communities and Victims Panel 2012) to provide them with the best foundation for the future. It makes little sense that only few people believe the schools are preparing their pupils for their future life with a job, when education is something parents are spending a fairly large proportion of money on. It is important to create hopes and dreams for children and young people to make them feel prepared for their future opportunities (see the Panel s recommendations under 5.0). Despite the fact that more people attend a university compared to earlier years and more study places are generated in the universities, the working class is lagging behind the middle class. Middle class children attending universities account for 50 per cent, while the number for the working class is only 20 per cent (Djursaa, Werther 2007 p. 139). The 30 per cent difference is noticeable, and contributes to widen the gap between rich and poor. A factor contributing to maintain the difference is the fact that universities charge tuition fees, which obviously is a greater burden for the working class to deal with. Even though the fee can be covered through student loans and repayed after graduation (Djursaa, Werther 2007 p. 139), the fees are more likely to result in young working class people choosing other paths for themselves. Public schools 1, such as the Eton College and the Rugby School, also charge a tuition fee every year for education, contributing to an increasing lack of social cohesion. There is a close connection between wealth and education. As Mustad et al. (2012, pp ) put it, public schools represent privilege and prestige, and given that tuition fees are representing up 1 Private schools in Britain are referred to as public schools. Page 13 of 24

17 to 30,000 a year, it seems obvious that education on public schools is not something available for all people in British society. The fact that some people are able to provide their children with the very best education possible because they are wealthy, is increasing the gap between rich and poor, which results in inequality. Social cohesion is about minimising disparites and avoiding marginalisation (Mustad et al p. 38), and the private sector does not contribute to a preservation of it, and also, affect the level of education available to children. Mustad et al (2012) mention how educational research have found that achievement is higher for public schools compared to state schools. When young people experience that there are no available jobs after completing an education, it results in a decreasing incentive for getting state-financed loans. Others become less willing to get the loan, because it seems unnecessary. The high level of youth unemployment makes it more difficult to get a job education or not. The whole situation becomes a vicious circle where lack of education leads to an increasing number of young people without a job, which again leads to an increase in people lacking education. Furthermore, the low level of social mobility in Britian plays a part in the number of people with a low level of education. People from poor families know that it will be difficult for them to make a better living than their parents, which makes it rather understandable that they may not seem keen on getting an education, nor contraing debts to get one. In order to assure that social cohesion exist, it is important to make young people believe that there is hope for the future, it is about making education available for all. The state financed loans to pay tuition fees is a step on the way, however, it does not seem to solve the problem within education some people are able to pay for the best education increasing inequality, and the people with a poor level of education are lacking possibilites, ultimately leading them to represent the majority of the rioters. 4.0 The aftermath of the riots This section deals with the aftermath of the riots. I will take a look at what initiatives were taken and whether or not they were successful, and have improved things, as Cameron promised (see below). For reasons of scope I will not go into depth with the aftermath, but merely provide a brief overview of what has been done. Page 14 of 24

18 David Cameron referred to the riots as a wake-up call and promised that the government would examine what caused the riots (Stratton 2011), but also look into what could be done to prevent similar events to erupt in the future. With this end in view the Riots Communities and Victims Panel completed a report with recommendations for interventions to improve society s situation. I will return to these later on. The government clearly wants to send a message that participation in the riots was unacceptable behaviour. In the wake of the riots large numbers of people were brought before a judge. Over 3,000 people have been in court and 2,000 have been convicted. What is striking is the fact that the sentences have been tougher than usual (The Economist 2012) months custodial sentences on average means that the verdicts handed down to the rioters are more than four times as severe as sentences given for similar offences without relation to the riots. Altogether the rioters have received a total of about 1,800 years of punishment (Davey 2012). The harshness of sentences given to the rioters by the courts is a clear indication that what happened during the riots will be clamped down on and is not acceptable (The Economist 2012). Undoubtedly, the sentences function as a deterrent for people to make them rethink their actons before doing anything similar to the 2011 riots. Apart from sending a strict message, the tough sentences also convey a sense of justice to the people affected by the looting and vandalism, showing that they have not been forgotten. Despite the fact that tough sentences have been handed down to the rioters, 243 rioters have been released from prison before the end of their sentences, to continue them under home detention curfews (The Guardian 2012b). I will not go into further detail with this, but once again emphasize the importance of the toughness of sentences. As already mentioned, over 3,000 have been in court, and the fact that the Crown Prosecution Service has about 10 cases relating to the riots a week (Davey 2012), shows that there are still many cases that need to be dealt with. According to the Riots Communities and Victims Panel (2012), it is important to give people a stake in society in order to ensure that riots will not happen again. The Panel has focused on six areas where it believes that improvements can be made 2 : 2 Within each area the Panel offers a number of recommendations. I will not comment on all recommendations, but rather provide examples. Improvements in these areas, the Panel believes, will make it possible to create social and economic resilience in the communities affected by the riots (Communities, Panel 2012). Page 15 of 24

19 1. Children and parents The Panel recommends that local agencies make it possible to share the information they have retrieved on a family (Riots Communities and Victims Panel 2012 p. 7). By doing so it will help them gain a broader knowledge of each family, but it will also be time-saving because all information gathered is available to all parts. 2. Building personal resilience In order to build personal resilience, primary and secondary schools should examine the strength of all pupils characters. The Panel believes that children who build a strong and self-confident character will be able to do well throughout their lives, and turn away from participating in riots (Riots Communities and Victims Panel 2012 p. 8) (Bawdon 2012). 3. Hopes and dreams One of the Panel s recommendations is that the government makes a job guarantee for young people who have been unemployed for at least two years. Also, recommendations state that schools should receive a fine if a child cannot read properly as required for its level of education (Riots Communities and Victims Panel 2012 p. 60) (BBC 2012) (Bawdon 2012). By making these guarantees the Panel believes that it will provide hopes and dreams for the future (Riots Communities and Victims Panel 2012 p. 9). 4. Riots and the brands Riots and the brand is the next area the Panel examines. Among other things it believes that the government should ( ) appoint an independent champion to manage a dialogue between Government and big brands ( ) (Riots Communities and Victims Panel 2012 p. 10). A survey conducted by the Panel discovered that 85% experience that advertisement put pressure on youngsters to acquire the newest and most popular products, which is why a debate on this area is called for. 5. The usual suspects The Panel believes that young people should be offered a mentor to help them get through their prison sentences. Furthermore, the help of a mentor will prevent the same young adults from returning to a criminal career again (Riots Communities and Victims Panel 2012 p. 11). Page 16 of 24

20 6. The police and the public The last area of interest is the connection between the police and the public. It recommends that the police involve the public more by the use of social media, because it will bring the two parties closer together (Riots Communities and Victims Panel 2012 p. 12). Another way to improve the relationship is for the police to inform on how they use stop and search initiatives (BBC 2012). These recommendations indicate that much work is needed to ensure that all people get a stake in society. The government and society do not have time to rest. It is hard work to fix a society that has been broken, which is made especially obvious by the fact that people in the affected areas lack public services to involve them in the process of coming up with durable solutions (Riots Communities and Victims Panel 2012 p. 3). However, the report from the Riots Communities and Victims Panel has helped clarify what has to be done to improve the situation. To conclude this section of the riots, I will take a brief look at the role of the people volunteering to clean up after the ritos. A large number of people worked together in the wake of the riots, showing community spirit. The Guardian published an article about hundreds answer appeal to clean up streets (Davies et al. 2011), and Bloom (2012, p. 84) refers to the public-spirited people. In London, people gathered in some of the areas that were worst affected by the riots, helped by the social media Facebook and Twitter. Davies et al (2011) emphasize how the volunteers provided the people affected with a valuable moral boost, fighting back with the words We re Londoners, we re resilient and getting on with it. The clean-ups provide an image of what direction to take: standing together, working together, and helping each other. This is what is needed to heal society. Lack of social cohesion (inequality and lack of education) (see pp. 7-14) are not the only dominating factors in the aftermath of the riots. Unity and community spirit are equally important, because they show that people condemn the action of the rioters. Even though much focus has been on the negative aspects of the riots, it is important not to forget the public spirit and community feeling of many Londoners in their effort to help the victims and clean up the streets. Page 17 of 24

21 5.0 Most plausible reasons for the riots At this point, I have provided an analysis of what caused the riots to happen, and what can be done to prevent them in the future. In the following I want to give my own assessment of what seems to be the most plausible causes. Even though my own opinion does not conflict much with what I pointed out during the analysis, I found some apects I briefly wish to discuss. The easiest and simplest way to address the eruption of the riots is through the killing of Mark Duggan. People felt injustice when realising that he had not fired a gun at the police, and wanted to take their frustrations out on the police. However, the causes of the riots are more deeply rooted in British society and are more complex. The aspect of social cohesion is without a doubt one of the underlying reasons that caused the riots to erupt. The death of Mark Duggan was the turning point, but the actual cause is found in the problems of social cohesion and the aspects of equality and education. David Cameron said in his speech about broken Britian that the riots were not about government cuts and poverty, but rather about behaviour, since the riots took place in the streets and not against Parliament (Stratton 2011). Yet, I believe the riots were about poverty. I found several aspects stating that poverty and inequality were the pivotal points in the riots. There is definitely a reason why over half of the rioters came from some of the most deprived areas in Britain (The Guardian, LSE 2011 p. 5), and it is because the increasing gap between rich and poor is becoming ever more obvious in society, e.g. in the difference in education available to children from different social classes. I believe that Cameron is trying to escape his part of the responsibility by distancing himself and other politicians from why the riots erupted. They have a responsibility to solve the problems reigning in society, in stead of blaming the riots on bad behaviour. Even though bad behaviour undoubtedly played a major part during the riots, it it was related to problems involving the government, and its responsibility to give more people the chance to feel part of society as well. That being said, I agree with Cameron to a certain extent, when he says that it is an insult to the people who would never dream of participating in riots, if he ascribed the reason for the riots to poverty. I still believe that poverty is a major reason, but he is right to remember all the people who did not participate, and also the people who volunteered to clean up after the riots. The clean-ups show a more nuanced image of the riots. Lots of people are Page 18 of 24

22 distancing themselves from the actions that took place across England. When something ends up affecting innocent people, I believe it results in more people joining forces and protesting against the injustice but also taking exception to the vandalism. The action of the people who did not participate in the riots shows hope for society a hope of solving the causes of the riots. Finally I want to point out that 81% of the people interviewed in Reading the Riots believe that riots will erupt again, and 35% would participate again (The Guardian, LSE 2011 p. 5). If things are not improved according to the recommendation of The Riots Communities and Victims Panel, I too believe that there is a risk of similar riots erupting in the future. It is essential that the issues causing the riots, such as lack of social cohesion, are addressed and dealt with in a way that makes it possible for people to achieve a stake in society, and again see hopes for the future. 6.0 Putting the topic into perspective The riots in England 2011 were not isolated events. The first incident I will include to put the 2011 riots into perspective also happened in England. More precisely, it took place in Broadwater Farm in October 1985 and was triggered by the death of Cynthia Jarrett, a black woman who died when her home was being raided by two police officers. The following day a march took place. It ended violently, and as a consecuence police constable Keith Blakelock was murdered (Bloom 2012a p. 76) (Stoddard 2011). In 1986 a report was published. The report criticized the police, and it recommended a stronger relation between the police and the community. A leader column in The Guardian had reservations regarding the effect of the recommendation, and stated (...) that there will be a next time, and that it will be even bloodier than Broadwater Farm (Stoddard 2011). The column was right. In 1985 only 69 persons were charged by the police, and during the riots one person got killed (Stoddard 2011). The 2011 England riots had numbers that far exceeded those of Even though the riots happened 25 years apart, they have some common features. They both started with the killing of a black person, followed by a march, and ending in riots and death. At first sight both incidents appear to have had a racial motive, but they did not. Is is the relation between the police and society, or more precisely, the way the police are handling different situations, such as the ones with Cynthia Jarrett and Mark Duggan. Page 19 of 24