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"Understanding Urban Riots" published on by Oxford University Press.

My aim is to examine one particular mode of political participation: the urban riot. In the West African context its importance is enhanced by the fact that there exist few, if any, other ways in which the mass of the population can participate in the political process and seek to bring some influence to bear upon governments. For most of the time, in the majority of states in the region, constitutional mechanisms for influencing governments have been largely absent due to the prevailing climate of political authoritarianism. Only in the Gambia have competitive parties operated throughout the last 10 years, although a few other states (Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Senegal) have had this type of democratic system for part of the time. For the rest, single-party or military rule has held sway, and opportunities for influencing, or indeed replacing, governments through the ballot box have been marked by their absence. Authoritarianism has extended not only to opposition parties — or, in the case of the military, any political organisation — but also to autonomous or semi-independent pressure groups, which have in general been fairly weak, even where not banned altogether.

This article examines issues of place and citizenship raised by the riots in summer 2001 in Bradford, Oldham and Burnley, when Asian youths took to the street to protest against the long‐term marginalization and discrimination of working‐class Asians. The article summarizes the forces that triggered the riots, ranging from the activities of the far right and the police to the role of community leaders and the absence of economic opportunity. The thrust of the argument, though, is to argue that the riots should be read in terms of the mature claim of a section of British society for recognition as fully‐fledged citizens of a multi‐ethnic and multicultural society, rather than as claims of ethnic recognition alone.Cet article étudie les problèmes de place et de citoyenneté soulevés par les émeutes de l'été 2001 è Bradford, Oldham et Burnley, quand de jeunes asiatiques sont descendus dans la rue pour protester contre les marginalisation et discrimination constantes de la classe ouvrière asiatique. L'article énumère les forces à l'origine du soulèvement, allant des activités de l'exträme droite et de la police au rôle des leaders des communautés et à l'absence de perspective économique. Toutefois, l'argument essentiel affirme que les émeutes doivent ätre vues en termes de revendication réfléchie d'une partie de la société britannique pour une reconnaissance en tant que citoyens à part entière dans une société multi‐ethnique et multiculturelle, et non comme des exigences de reconnaissance ethnique uniquement.

Urbane riots sind politische Ereignisse. Sie rütteln an den Grundfesten der institutionellen Ordnung und bringen die tieferliegenden Konflikte des ritualisierten gesellschaftlichen Lebens zum Vorschein. Nach wie vor kreisen öffentliche Debatten um die Frage, ob es sich bei dieser Form der Auseinandersetzung um sinnvollen Protest oder um sinnlose Gewalt handelt. Dieser Aufsatz gibt einige vorläufige Antworten auf diese Frage, in dem er zwei Beispielen vergleicht: die riots in England 2011 und den griechischen Dezemberprotesten 2008. Diese beiden höchst unterschiedlichen Beispiele wurden ausgewählt, da sie in der Öffentlichkeit sehr unterschiedlich wahrgenommen wurden. Während die englische Öffentlichkeit die riots als 'sinnlose Gewalt' ablehnte, ergaben Meinungsumfragen im Fall Griechenlands, dass die Ausschreitungen dort weitgehend als 'soziale Revolte' anerkannt wurden. Der Aufsatz versucht, den Ursachen dieser gegensätzlichen Auslegung auf dem Grund zu gehen, indem er 1) die Muster der riots (insbesondere das Überwiegen 'individualistischer' beziehungsweise 'kollektivistischer' Elemente) und 2) die soziale und politische Identität der Beteiligten untersucht. ; Urban riots are political events. They question the very foundations of the institutional order and render visible the underlying conflicts of ritualized social life. Why then do urban riots continue to spark fierce public debate about whether they are meaningful protests or meaningless violence? This article essays some preliminary answers to these questions by comparing the English riots of August 2011 with the Greek December of 2008. The two cases are selected as most different cases because public readings of the riots differed so widely. The English riots were rejected as 'meaningless violence', whereas in the Greek case public surveys documented widespread acknowledgement of the riots as 'social revolt'. The article tries to pin down the origins of these antithetical interpretations by delving into: 1) the patterns of rioting (especially the prevalence of 'individualistic' or 'collectivist' elements in the episodes of rioting) and 2) the rioters' social and political identity.

Vor 20 Jahren erschütterten die Chaostage die Messestadt Hannover. In den bis dato schwersten Auseinandersetzungen der bundesdeutschen Nachtkriegsgeschichte, brachte eine subkulturelle Strömung aus Punks, Skinheads und anderen, die Ordnungsvorstellung der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft ins Wanken. Die Chaostage heute noch einmal als riot zu betrachten, öffnet den Blick auf ihre materielle und mediale Wirkung. Dabei wird deutlich, wie eine Unruhe Sinnzusammenbrüche der lebensweltlich erfahrbaren sozialen Ordnung verursacht. Diese Sinnentleerung motivierte infolge der Chaostage 1995 eine mediale Mobilmachung, um neuen Sinn zuzuschreiben und zu verstehen, was auf der Straße faktisch passiert war. Der riot wurde dabei mit seiner eigenen Spektakularität konfrontiert, er wurde fremddefiniert und somit den Beteiligten eine eigene Darlegung ihres Handelns verwehrt. Die Punks griffen diesen Punkt auf und hielten der medialen Hysterie ihr karnevaleskes Zerrbild entgegen. ; Twenty years ago, the so-called Chaos days shattered the city of Hannover. In the most intense civil commotions since World War II, a subcultural mélange of punks, skinheads and other factions damaged the public understanding of social order. To analyze the Chaos days in the context of an emerging riots discourse opens perspectives for material and media-related effects. Moreover it focuses on riots as disturbances and ruptures of social order perceived in the lifeworld. This is a breakdown of social sense. Because it is not immediately possible to make sense of a riot, the media began – in the case of the Chaos days – to fill the fissures, it had created. The media named, defined and pursued the genuinely modern goal of verstehen. Riots are often defined and filled with sense by society and its spectacle, not by the rioter themselves. Chaos days picked up this point in a karnevalesk way: They confronted the public with an own interpretation and a distorted picture of public hysteria.

ABSTRACTThis article examines the relationship between urban riots and increases in state welfare spending in the 1960s. It finds little evidence of a direct relationship between rioting and state welfare spending increases from own funds; but it does provide evidence that state welfare spending increases from federal funds were related to the level of urban rioting. Possible explanations for this pattern of findings are discussed and directions for further research are suggested.

AbstractWhat are the electoral consequences of urban riots? We argue that riots highlight the economic and social problems suffered by those who participate, inducing potential electoral allies to mobilize. These allies can then punish local incumbents at the ballot box. We test this hypothesis with fine-grained geographic data that capture how exposure to the 2011 London riots changed vote choices in the subsequent 2012 mayoral election. We find that physical proximity to both riot locations and the homes of rioters raised turnout and reduced the vote for the incumbent Conservative mayor. These results are partly driven by a change in the turnout and vote choices of white residents. This provides support for the view that riots can help shift votes against incumbents who oppose the implied policy goals of rioters.