The 2011 Summer Riots: Learning from History -Remembering ‘81

Arguments that have emphasised the apparent meaninglessness and mindlessness of the 2011 riots rest on a number of assumptions and assertions. This includes for example the claim that such riots were fundamentally different on a number of levels compared to those of the past and particularly in relation to those of the 1980s. Whilst the latter have been viewed more sympathetically, with meanings and grievances now largely understood and accepted, and even seen as noble, the 2011 disturbances have been seen as lacking any real or legitimate grievances. By contradicting claims about the uniqueness of the recent riots (whilst also acknowledging important differences), it is possible to challenge assertions that firstly, the rioters did not have genuine grievances and secondly, that they should not be listened to. By examining the (qualified) similarities and continuities between riots past and present, we argue the case that it is likely that deep-seated grievances lay behind the 2011 riots that demands serious public and political engagement. Such perspective needs to stand in place of the dismissal that politicians were quick to offer, alongside their many instant diagnoses of the rioters’ conditions and the social evils they represent. The qualitative differences that do exist between the urban unrest of 1981 and the 2011 English riots reflect the historical specificities’ of these periods and the immediate material conditions within which each are grounded.