Londoin Riots

THE LONDON RIOTS OF 2011: WHO’S FAULT IS IT REALLY?

The London Riots Of 2011: Who’s Fault Is It Really?

Kristi King

Texas Wesleyan University

Content analysis London riots

Methods

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Abstract

The London riots of 2011 raised many questions as to why cities’ inhabitants chose to

wreak havoc on fellow community members, and the structures occupied with in the areas. An

analysis of articles written in the New York Times attempts to discover the truths to those

questions. Many factors played part in the developing answers. Socio-economic factors, moral

character, political scandal, and familial aspect all have a role in the developing answers. This

analysis is truly telling of many political movements today, and through sheer visualization, new

questions are raised and eyes are wide open to aspects of the worlds reality that only the future

has answers.

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Introduction

A peaceful protest carried out by the family of twenty-nine-year-old Mark Duggan, a

father of four, led to riots that spread from Tottenham to other parts of the capital of England

including Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester and Brixton. A police officer from

the Trident unit of the Metropolitan police force shot and killed Duggan outside his taxicab on

August 6, 2011. Initial reports indicated that Mr. Duggan fired at the police first. Riots

allegedly were a direct result of the death of Mark Duggan, but media has reported that

Tottenham residents claimed a physical argument between a police officer and a sixteen-year-old

female attending the peaceful protest initiated the riots. Masked rioters with hooded sweatshirts

robbed stores for electronics and sporting goods. Perpetrators also set fire to cars, damaged

buildings, and murdered members of their communities. David Cameron, the Prime Minister of

England, was not only disappointed in the immoral and irresponsible acts of young residents, but

he also showed displeasure for the Metropolitan police department’s initial response to the riots.

Upon review of various works, several new definitions produced enhanced

understandings with regard to reasons those responsible initiated the riots. Many of the reports

further elaborated on police misconducts, as compared to the present. The Guardian raised

suspicions as to whether Mark Duggan was initially carrying a weapon. Articles reported that

the gun was on the opposite side of the fence approximately ten to fourteen feet away from

Duggan’s body (Dodd 2011). A reporter from Sky News alleged that neighbors informed him

“a police surveillance vehicle had been filming the road for several days before the shooting.

They claim to have seen armed plain clothes police hiding in bushes nearby, and say the taxi that

Mark Duggan was a passenger in, was taken away from the scene before being brought back for

more tests” (Perfect Storm/ The England Riots 2011). At the time of the mayhem, residents

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posted feeds on twitter stating that journalists offered to pay them to start riots (Pudney 2011),

which very well could have been police provocateurs, like those exposed during a peaceful

protest in Montebello, Québec.

Other sources “emphasized the links between the riots and recent elite scandals”, which

led to a mistrust of police and politicians (Birch and Allen 2011). Part of the mistrust directed at

politicians comes from Britain’s welfare system, which studies noted are similar to those of the

Roman Empire who “implemented a ‘high tax, high welfare’ system to levy tax from the rich

and subsidize the poor. The Lex Sempronia marked the inception of an ‘effective public welfare

system’ in Rome” (Qin 2005). Many today attribute the fall of the Roman Empire on the vast

amount of welfare the ancient city distributed (Qin 2005). The far most telling literature was

written by Caleb Stroup and University Ben Zissimos (2011) where they in detail, describe how

the International Monetary Fund (IMF) austerity programs for decades have been at the center of

many riots. The piece goes on to say, “For the peasants in developing countries who toil to pay

off their countries’ IMF debts or the businessmen who suffer from higher value added taxes upon

the insistence of the IMF, the current system run by the IMF is one of taxation without

representation. Left with no alternatives, no way to express their concern, to press for change,

people riot”.

To understand the reasons why the riots occurred a content analysis of New York Times

articles was implemented. The analysis set out to answer what caused the riots. There are a

vast number of reasons for the riots, but this analysis focused primarily on a government

dependent society whose lack of parenting produced immoral individuals who substituted

education and employment for welfare assistances. There is also significant focus on local

and/or state government’s participation in the movement.

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Methodology

Data collection started with a systematic search for articles from the New York Times

reporting on “London Riots 2011”. While initial results did not fair well, later searches showed

more success. Collectively there were 81 articles (60.5%), which were somewhat significant in

relation to the hypothesis. 32 articles (39.5%) had no meaningful relation at all. Next,

independent variables of the variable, cause of the London Riots of 2011, were derived based on

the hypothesis. Subsequent independent variables consisted of synonyms from the original

independent variables. Using a summative search method, a comprehensive word count was

created of the independent variables. Systematically, each word was inspected to see if it related

to the hypothesis. Words that were related to the hypothesis were color coated, and the sentences

which contained the words, were highlighted the same colors as in relation to the independent

variables. Following this process came extensive reading over all 81 articles to assess whether

the initial results faired true. Though much of the initial process did coincide, there was still a

significant amount of information missed. As such, further evidence was made apparent. All 81

articles were then analyzed again, however new findings, which were missed in the summative

search, were highlighted. In the end, the totality of the new information generated 100% usage

of all 81 articles. The words that frequented the articles most and gave a significant return were;

police with 524 recurrences, along with government, which had 191. Both showed far more

significance than the initial independent variables. Therefore, though the hypothesis did not fail,

it is worth extending the findings to include the independent variables, police, and government.

Note: Tables and Graphs after the appendix provide a detailed understanding of initial word

searches, which were done primarily for efficiency due to the vast amounts of reading required

for the sole researcher.

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Results

This section will present evidence from the New York Times, which supported the hypothesis

that challenged the answer to the cause of the 2011 London Riots. Several finings supported the

hypothesis that riots resulted from a lack of parenting established through government

suppression, which in turn created an immoral society who substituted education and

employment for welfare subsidies. Though there were many, one article stood apart from the

others. The article contained transcripts from an interview with nineteen-year-old, Louis James.

James stated he had never held a job in his entire life. He only recently learned to read, and he

does not possess any of the defining characteristics or skills that employers often require. He

makes $250 a month sitting at home watching television. His mother can barely support him or

his siblings. He ,like so many troubled youths, has no father, as his died of a drug overdose. He

claims he only wants a chance, but does not seem to correlate that sitting on the couch all day

watching television probably will not increase his opportunities for employment. The high

school drop out was wise enough to cognize that the government only gives him just enough

money each month to survive. He utters, “This is what they want” (L. Thomas Jr. and R.

Somaiya, 2011). When James says "they”, he is obviously referring to the government. It really

makes no sense, but Mr. James is in fact correct in his reflection. That is what the government

wants from him, and so many others like him. The question is; of what benefit is it to the

government to have a nineteen-year-old man with his entire life in front of him, waste his days

zoning out on the television?

The relationship between the welfare classes and government are far from edifying.

Apparently, government is an enabler. Circumstances will never change for Mr. James or others

comparable to him unless he possesses either 1.) the desire or 2.) the incentive to change those

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circumstances. Unfortunately, some have to hit "rock bottom" to make it to the top. The

statement is a harsh reality, but it is in fact a true one. It only makes sense that when austerity

programs are cut, those who have depended on the benefits their entire lives, will rebel.

David Cameron, Prime Minister of England did not hold back in his negative but truthful

comments regarding the morality of rioters. He stated, “those who looted and committed arson

showed a lack of “proper morals” and a failure of parenting. There are pockets of our society

that are not just broken but, frankly, sick. When we see children as young as twelve and thirteen

looting and laughing, when we see the disgusting sight of an injured young man with people

pretending to help him while they are robbing him, it is clear there are things that are badly

wrong in our society” (J. Burns and R. Somaiya, 2011). The irony of Mr. Cameron's comments

were reflected in early reports, which stated that nearly three thousand rioters were successfully

apprehended, and three quarters and then a repeat offenders. Mr. Cameron also wanted to hire

William Bratton as head of Scotland Yard. Bratton, is a leading figure in urban crime-fighting

tactics. He is an advocate of so-called community policing, an approach grounded in the idea of

flooding streets with officers who are immersed in people’s daily lives rather than using them

simply to react or respond to specific events. Bratton led several police agencies that faced

issues of corruption or excessive use of force (M. Yam, 2011). How the Prime Minister expects

these troubled youths to change is far from apparent. Surrounding them and with big brother

type police, demoralizing them in the news, and incarcerating them repeatedly, will only produce

the same thing. The only difference is it will get worse.

Discussion

Results of this study revealed that, yes, failure in parenting is one reason why the riots

started, but the bigger picture suggests much more. Morals alone do not cause riots. The

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government is the only independent variable of all the others, that could truly be a lone factor in

creating them, and even more specific, the IMF may be the direct cause. Whether it is direct or

indirect, it is quite clear from the literature review, and the content analysis, that the answer to

the question what cause the London Riots of 2011 is the government. The pieces of information

collected for the most part, related strictly to one key factor that initiated the riots, and this was

the killing of Mark Duggan. The circumstances surrounding the shooting of Mark Duggan were

suspicious from the beginning. One thing is certain right now. Only the Metropolitan Police

Department, and God know the truth of the incident. The hypothesis was merely a well-

orchestrated factor that exasperated the riots. Poor parenting or lack of value systems did not

create the riots, but instead the actions by the government in regards to welfare directly caused

the uprising.

The major limitation to this research was working with New York Times articles. The

New York Times does not report on the same issues as other world newspapers do. Much of the

articles solely reported on matter-a-fact occurrences. The articles did have plenty of information

to support the hypothesis, they just did not seen to have any true sustenance. Only with small

pieces of information obtained through different sources, and with the extensive and repeated

readings of The New York Times articles, was a more precise conclusion drawn. In 2001,

Gregory Palast, a reporter for the Observer published an article called IMF's Four Steps to

Damnation. In that article, Joseph Stieglitz, the ex-chief economist of the World Bank,

explained some of the IMF’s confidential documents obtained by Palast through one of his

sources. In those documents Step-Three-and-a-Half: what Stieglitz calls 'the IMF riot'. The IMF

riot is painfully predictable. When a nation is, 'down and Out, [the IMF] squeezes the last drop

of blood out of them. They turn Up the heat until, finally, the whole cauldron blows up,' - as

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when The IMF eliminated food and fuel subsidies for the poor in Indonesia in 1998. Indonesia

exploded into riots” (G. Palast, 2001). Reports such as this, make it hard to envision any other

reason for the vast number of riots that have ensued over the past two years. A chart has been

constructed which shows riots that have emerged, all over the world since 44 B.C. to 2011.

Riots are categorized by the decade. From 44 B.C. to the 1950's, the greatest number of riots

over a ten-year period was during the 1910’s. For the forty years following, the numbers sky

rocketed falling in between fifty-one to seventy-nine riots per decade, but that does not even

come close to the millennium era. Over a ten-year period, an astonishing 203 riots were reported.

The IMF letter was leaked this decade to Gregory Palast. All fall very short of the reality, that

has invaded our current decade, which has not even seen a full year. Already, in 2011, the globe

has demonstrated ninety-nine riots. That is a 385% increase in riots for the first year of this

decade, and this year is not even over. Blame cannot solely fall on the shoulders of parents on

welfare. There is something… truly something going on much deeper. Only time will tell.

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Graph 4

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THE LONDON RIOTS OF 2011: WHO’S FAULT IS IT REALLY? 11


References

New questions raised over Duggan shooting Vikram Dodd The Guardian, Friday 18 November

2011

(Perfect Storm/ The England Riots 2011).

(Social Unrest in the Wake of IMF Structural Adjustment Programs Caleb Stroup Vanderbilt

University Ben Zissimos2 University of Bath First draft: May 24th, 2011 This draft:

September 30th, 2011http://people.bath.ac.uk/bcz20/papers/StroupZissimos11b.pdf)

Qin, H. (2005). Power, Responsibility, and Constitutional Politics. Chinese Economy, 38(6),

36-82.

. (The Global Awakening Journalists Offered Several Young People Money To Riot August 10,

2011 By Antony Pudney

http://theglobalawakening.wordpress.com/2011/08/10/jounalists-have-offered-money-to-

young-people-to-riot/).

”. (Troubled, Unemployed Youths in Britain by Landon Thomas Jr. and Ravi Somaiya

published: August 9, 2011).

.” (Single Mothers Become Scapegoats in Britain by Katrin Bennhold Published: September 27,

2011)

”, (Is London Burning? By Clay Risen)

. (Troubled, Unemployed Youths in Britain by Landon Thomas Jr. and Ravi Somaiya published:

August 9, 2011)

(Britain Debates Riots and Fears They Set a Pattern

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/world/europe/11britain.html?

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Scp=13&sq=london+riot&st=nytdarren Staples/Reuters Police forensics officers

inspected the scene where three men were killed by a car in Birmingham, England, on

Wednesday. By John F. Burns and Ravi Somaiya

Published: August 10, 2011) “

(Http://Www.Nytimes.Com/2011/08/11/World/Europe/11britain.Html?

Scp=13&Sq=London+Riot&St=Nyt Darren Staples/Reuters Police Forensics Officers

Inspected The Scene Where Three Men Were Killed By A Car In Birmingham, England,

On Wednesday. By John F. Burns and Ravi Somaiya Published: August 10, 2011)

(Britain Turns to Former New York and Los Angeles Police Official for Help

Marcus Yam for The New York Times)

. (IMF'S FOUR STEPS TO DAMNATION IMF'S FOUR STEPS TO DAMNATION How

crises, failures, and suffering finally drove a Presidential adviser to the wrong side of the

barricades Gregory Palast Sunday April 29, 2001 The Observer

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