Below is an interesting article taken from The Guardian UK. It is refreshing to read something from the mainstream media on the recent riots that has a little more depth than the one dimensional crap that our parasitical millionaire cabal have been spouting, criminality, mindless violence, thuggery, etc.. I'm sure that in a fair and just society there would be no riots, only a brain dead politician would fail to see that the riots are saying something very loud and clear about the way citizens see this society. People will not destroy what they believe they are part of and what they perceive as theirs. Vast swathes of people do not feel in any way connected to, or involved in, the way decisions are made that shape their lives. However, don't expect our political masters to see it that way, they live in a different world, a world of opportunity, security and affluence, and they will do their utmost to hold on to it at any cost. The article is well worth a read.
Behind the Clapham riots: 'the police are the enemy'
In south London, young people usually on opposing sides of turf disputes came
together in opposition to the 'mainstream', says Amanda Conroy
The BBC has come under criticism for
referring to those involved in the rioting and looting as "protesters". The
debate over what to call the social unrest is about more than journalistic
accuracy; the question is whether those actions were, ultimately, about "things"
or about "politics".
The London riots have been cast as episodes of "opportunistic criminality",
senseless, barbarian and apolitical, because of their apparent lack of
leadership, stated political goals or formal engagement with what may be called
mainstream politics. In the weeks that have passed since the riots in Clapham –
my neighbourhood – I've had the opportunity to speak to members of local
communities, youth group leaders and young residents of local estates. I've come
to the conclusion that while the looting and destruction in south London may
have been about "things", it cannot be separated so cleanly from political
protest.
For many people that I spoke to, the opportunity to "fight" with the
"government", by fighting the police, was political. It was a significant part
of the decision to take part in the riots. These kids in Clapham and elsewhere,
said a Brixton youth group leader, "are surrounded by a culture of 'fuck the
police' and these riots gave them the biggest opportunity they could to fight
[them]".
This "fuck the police" culture, said several young residents from a
Wandsworth council estate who knew people involved in the Clapham disturbances,
stems from the fact that residents are constantly being stopped and searched.
"When you get stopped by the police and you come from a certain area, they have
zero respect", a young male council estate resident told me.
The police are seen as nothing but a barrier to making money and having fun,
said the Brixton youth group leader. For many young people living on council
estates, the police are the enemy. They are the representation of the limits of
their life, their lack of choices – the most immediate manifestation of what
they cannot have or do.
The riots also offered an unusual opportunity for young people to come
together. A young man told me that events organised around his Wandsworth estate
are usually affected by "turf wars" erupting between the young people. "The
whole thing with the riots was that you had kids of different ages, different
estates coming together as one big group. Calling up like 'Hey bruv, want to
make some money?'" he said. Despite their territorial differences, when news of the "success" of looting
in other parts of the city reached young people, they identified themselves as
part of the same collective, with the same interests and the same enemies. They
decided that working together was the best way to achieve those goals.
The looting in Clapham Junction does not seem to be senseless, random
criminality; it seems more like the pursuit of group interests at the expense of
the interests of a dominant political order. "By taking stuff", a local youth
group leader said of the rioters, "they are righting what they see as
injustice".
Last week, the UK rapper and poet Genesis Elijah released a spoken-word
analysis of the riots, in which he laments: "We used to riot for a cause / Now
we riot just because." I would amend this statement slightly. It seems to me
that those involved didn't take part in the rioting and the looting "just
because" but, rather, "just because they could". In the context of a society that, they feel, denies them the ability to take
part in "mainstream" society – and especially denies them the ability to
accumulate "things" – we should not be surprised that a group identity is formed
in opposition to the "mainstream" and that violent material accumulation is the
form of protest they take.
• Amanda Conroy lives in Clapham, south
London, and is a PhD student at the London School of Economics's Gender
Institute. Her research interests centre on nationalist and extreme right-wing
social movements.
