England's Urban Disorder: The 2011 Riots
| Author | John Benyon |
| Published date | 01 April 2012 |
| Date | 01 April 2012 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-9066.2012.00092.x |
disproportionately poor. By early 2012 it
was reported that the Metropolitan Police
had made 3423 arrests and 2179 people
had been charged or summonsed. Data re-
vealed that three-quarters of those charged
had previous criminal records. The ethnic
background of those in court varied consid-
erably from area to area but, overall, 42 per
cent were white and 46 per cent black, with
only 7 per cent described as Asian.
Home Office data, using indicators such
as out-of-work benefits and free school
meals, showed that those appearing in
court were more deprived than the gen-
eral population. Using indices of multiple
deprivation, more than half of those in
court came from the most deprived areas.
Two-thirds of the young people had special
educational needs and one-third had been
excluded from school in the past year.
England’s Urban Disorder:
The 2011 Riots
The 2011 riots began in the early even-
ing of Thursday 4 August, when a
29-year-old man, Mark Duggan, was
shot dead in Tottenham by police officers.
This resulted in protests and a demonstra-
tion at the police station. Serious disorder
developed on the evening of 6 August
involving a few hundred youths. In the
next few days rioting and looting took place
in other parts of London, such as Enfield,
Brixton, Hackney, Croydon and Ealing, and
other English cities including Birmingham,
Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Salford
and Wolverhampton. There were wide-
spread physical and arson attacks on police
and property.
Crime and Deprivation
The four days of rioting resulted in five
deaths, countless injuries and enormous
damage. Home Office data showed that
more than 300 police were injured and
it was claimed that the costs of the riots
amounted to £300 million. Ten English po-
lice forces experienced the greatest disorder
and together they recorded approximately
5100 offences. These were in 66 local au-
thority areas that were generally localities
with high levels of crime and deprivation.
Just over two-thirds of all the offences were
recorded in London.
The disturbances appeared to differ in
some respects between different locations,
with disorder, arson and attacks on the
police predominating in some places, and
looting and acquisitive crime in others and
criminal damage in other areas. In total
2584 business premises and 231 residential
properties were attacked.
The Guardian/LSE study Reading the Riots
indicated that many rioters in places such
as Manchester and Birmingham travelled
from poorer suburbs to riot and loot in
the city centre. The participants were
The serious disorders in August 2011 caused shock and outrage, even though they were just the latest in a long
history of public tumult. JohnBenyon examines the riots and the different reactions to them, and finds that the
underlying causes were more complex and deep-seated than many seemed preparedto admit.
Perspectives on Collective Violence
The ways in which public disorder are in-
terpreted vary according to the ideological
stance that is taken. Three broad perspec-
tives on collective violence can be identified:
• The conservative view sees riots as
unusual, meaningless and irresponsible.
It assumes that existing political, social
and regulatory structures are adequate,
and there can therefore be no necessity
or justification for violent disorder. It
is seen as an aberration perpetrated by
irresponsible and criminal elements,
motivated by greed or excitement, the
dupes of political extremists, or imitating
the behaviour of others.
• The liberal perspective views violent
outbursts as inevitable under certain
Box 1 A long history of public disorder
Following the 2011 disorder, some politicians and journalists said that rioting is ‘foreign’ to the Brit-
ish way of life – but this reveals a lack of knowledge of Britain’s history. In the eighteenth and nine-
teenth centuries riots were associated with a variety of grievances, including the price of food, work-
ing conditions, unemployment and lack of political representation. In the disturbance on ‘Bloody
Sunday’, 13 November 1887, police clashed with unemployed people in Trafalgar Square, leaving
three dead and 200 injured.
The periods before and after the First World War were characterised by extensive disorder over
issues such as votes for women, home rule for Ireland and industrial disputes. In 1919, disorder oc-
curred in various cities including Cardi, Plymouth and Coventry, as well as London. The police went
on strike in Liverpool, resulting in tanks on the streets. The 1930s was also a decade of considerable
disorder, some of it related to attempts to suppress marches by the National Unemployed Workers’
Movement, with other disorder associated with the activities of the British Union of Fascists.
Disorder, labelled as ‘race riots’, occurred in September 1958 in Notting Hill and Nottingham. There
was also violence on occasions in the 1960s and 1970s associated with various protests such as anti-
Vietnam war demonstrations and rallies against the National Front. In 1980, disorder occurred in Bris-
tol. Riots took place in Brixton on 10–12 April 1981 and were followed by other disturbances in cities
such as Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. An ocial inquiry into the Brixton disorders was
established under Lord Scarman.
There was a further outbreak of riots in September 1985 in Liverpool and Birmingham, and again
in Brixton and Tottenham. In March 1990, a large demonstration against the proposed poll tax ended
with a major disturbance in London. There were major outbreaks of disorder in 2001 in Oldham, Brad-
ford and Burnley, and again in Birmingham in 2005.
12 Political Insight
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