London Riots, 8/10-11
by zunguzungu
SECOND UPDATE, 8-11: Tariq Jazeel. Timothy Burke. Jonathan Simon. Hyperallergic. Murtaza Hussain.
UPDATE, 8/11: MLK. Richard Sennett and Saskia Sasson. Clamping down on social media. Jeff Jarvis. The West Londoner. Maria Bustillos remembers LA ’92. Language. Waging Non-Violence. University for Strategic Optimism. Critical Legal Thinking. Male Fantasies, and part 2. Philip White.
William Wall. Potlatch. Riot Psychology. Andrew Gilligan. Simon Nixon. Rosamicula. Paul Lay. Mark Vernon. Group Psychology. Zoe Williams. Alex Aldridge. Aspirational Looting. Will Wiles. Sangat TV. Richard Seymour and Darcus Howe on Democracy Now. Anthony Paul Smith. Dana Goblaskas. Kevin Sampson. Christian Fuchs. ”Austerity and Anarchy: Budget Cuts and Social Unrest in Europe, 1919-2009“. Demilit.
It’s unfortunate that you list so many ignorant careerists and pundits blind to their arrogantly ‘colonial’ perspective on these events (not all, but…). I also include supposed ‘witnesses’ to earlier riots (Kevin Sampson – meh. He was pretending he was a football hooligan when he had his anachronistic novel to plug. It’s clear that Laurie Penny will the next Johann Hari: “Journalists beaten and mugged!” Name ‘em, Laurie – I dare you). Particularly offensive is how many of them attempt pop-psychology portraits of the rioters; especially in light of how they’ve gone out of their way to ignore or demonize them over the years. Even the supposedly ‘political’ writers are careful to deny this agency to the rioters.
Don’t fall for the ‘feral consumerism’ meme. Its current ubiquity only expose the fetishes that drive the media, nothing more. I’d recommend waiting until the dust settles, when we can hear from more reliable sources. The levels of ill-informed media bullshit regarding youth, blacks or ‘the underclass’ is toxic and self-serving. Most of these links are highly unreliable, to say the least. You may as well watch a Richard Curtis movie to get the full story.
Well, I’m not going to stand behind *everything* in these links; they’re just a mixed bag of stuff I found more useful to read than most of the “impartial” reportage that you’re otherwise stuck with, a fairly low bar to clear (and for different reasons in most cases). And I’m not sure it’s possible to say anything about “most of these links,” in the same way as it’s impossible to say anything about “most of the rioters”: they’re both diverse groups that are dangerous to try to generalize about. And to the extent that these writers do make those kinds of claims, I take them with salt, and wouldn’t suggest that any one else do anything but otherwise.
Anarchist respond to the riots:
http://libcom.org/news/north-london-solfeds-response-london-riots-09082011#new
Darcus Howe was so great on DN this morning. Like poetry! Thanks for posting.
The Democracy Now link was one of the few exceptions. But Zungu, there are certain assumptions about rioters emerging from ‘most of these links’, whatever position they claim to hold (and ‘consensus’ does congeal around these things in a way). Riots being the language of the unheard and all that…
Seriously?
“they’re on holidays. The school year is over. And anybody who’s been cooped up in a classroom in your teens for a term, you want out. And you feel freedom of—a spiritual freedom. You breathe widely, hahhh, and you say, “School over, monkey turn over.” So, that is a moment. I don’t think it would have happened in January or the middle of October or anything. It’s summer. It’s warm. In fact, some of the nights were quite hot.”
…
“I think there’s much more looting now, because they’re on school holidays. And one of the things about young people—because I was young once. I like—whatever in fashion, I must have it; otherwise I won’t get a girlfriend. This is the spirit of youth.”
Well that explains it.
On the one hand we have the doddering Howe, on the other rage-filled, anti-establishment zealots like Kasper for whom a community rallying to clean itself up in the wake of riots is best described as “Child Labour Supervised By White People”. Thus far absent a clear, reasonable voice stating their grievances or demands, it’s hard to sympathize or back the rioters at all.
The ‘doddering Howe’ is there because any other ‘name’ voices – and definitely those that may emerge from these communities – have been so decisively removed from mainstream discussion, even more than they were in 1981. Maybe that’s because they’re in danger of being ‘anti-establishment zealots’ (which is kewl if you’re playing that role in academia, otherwise keep it quiet). Going by your Bill O’Reilly terminology, I can see why this may be the case.
Also, riots tend to happen in summer for obvious reasons. Just like they’re more likely to happen in Greece than Norway. Even those where there’s few schoolkids present, dumbass.
“a community rallying to clean itself up” – I think they missed a bit. Maybe they should invest in some paid workers, or define ‘community’ outside definitions offered by Tesco, HSBC or Vodaphone.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/08/09/uk-britain-riot-contrast-idUKTRE7785XQ20110809
Riots are to be joined, fought, or fled.
There’s also Evan Calder Williams’ two-part ‘An open letter to those who condemn looting’: http://socialismandorbarbarism.blogspot.com/2011/08/open-letter-to-those-who-condemn.html
http://socialismandorbarbarism.blogspot.com/2011/08/open-letter-to-those-who-condemn_10.html
(I didn’t see it in your links round-up; apologies if it’s already there and I missed it)
There’s also Evan Calder Williams’ two-part ‘An open letter to those who condemn looting’: http://socialismandorbarbarism.blogspot.com/2011/08/open-letter-to-those-who-condemn.html
http://socialismandorbarbarism.blogspot.com/2011/08/open-letter-to-those-who-condemn_10.html
(I didn’t see it in your links round-up; apologies if it’s already there and I missed it)
After I initially left a comment I seem to have clicked on the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on whenever a comment is added I receive four emails with the same comment. There has to be a way you are able to remove me from that service? Thanks a lot!