Having read quite a lot about the recent riots in the UK, I thought I'd collect some of the better pieces that I've read and post links to them here. I won't add my own thoughts here though. This is just a post about what some others have said. I hope it will prove useful and interesting.
Firstly, here is a piece by Nina Power, writing in the Guardian:
She argues that those condemning the violence should step back and consider the larger picture: that of the rising social inequality, rampart individualism, massive unemployment, the intensification of consumerism based on personal debt, racism, police corruption, systematic crushing of unions and the criminalisation of dissent.
Next is a piece by Tom Fox, writing in Red Pepper:
Fox draws attention to the following: "police incompetence and arrogance, media complicity and callousness, the short-sightedness of the rioters, and the contempt politicians have had for the public over the past year that evidently continued this week." He goes on to say that "Looting and burning is not the virtue of the left, but instead of neo-liberalism, and we now have a grim mirror image of capitalism’s savaging of our society over the last three decades.
The rioters are a microcosm of the ethics that resulted from that savaging: self-indulgence, competition, and violence."
Also writing in Red Pepper, Emma Gallwey:
Among other things, she draws attention to social policies from both the current coalition government and the previous New Labour government. She also reminds readers of the Conservative ideology which sees the provision of welfare as both a fiscal burden and as creating a "welfare dependent, morally feckless, underclass of single mothers, young black men without fathers, delinquent hooligans, and long term unemployed." It is this moralism and paternalism which explains (in part) the Conservative agenda of using the debt crisis to push through austerity measures which sharply decrease the standards of living for most ordinary people and especially the poor. Gallwey is critical not just of the moralism of the Conservatives but also of the media and the conservative elements of the British public opinion. Moralism leads to speeches of condemnation and discussion about the failure of parenting whilst often ignoring the social causes of the riots.
For an article which concentrates mostly on the issue of race, see this article in Counter Punch by Hal Austin:
Austin draws parallels with the riots in 1980/81 and the Broadwater Farm uprising in 1985, and argues that lessons were not learned and that a number of people, including Diane Abbott, are dangerously peddling a revisionist account of these historical events. Austin also discusses the political impotence of the black community in the UK.
New Left Project have gathered some responses to the riots from groups on the left:
Helpfully, Alex Callinicos' statement from his facebook page is here for those of us not on facebook. Callinicos compares the riots to those of 1980s, and to those in LA in 1992. He makes a number of points: political alienation is greater now than thirty years ago, the looting reflects the increase in commodification of desires in the neo-liberal era, and we now see a greater co-existence of rich and poor in London which explains the acts of class hatred demonstrated for example by the scenes of broom-waving in Clapham and Ealing. Callinicos also recommends Chris Harman's analysis of the 1981 riots, arguing that such an analysis applies to the riots seen this past week. Here is the link to Harman's analysis of the 1980s riots: http://www.marxists.org/archive/harman/1981/xx/riots.html
The Socialist Workers Party has made this statement:
It focuses on a number of key points: police racism and brutality, the Tory attacks on welfare provision and social programs, the growing inequality in Britain (the country is now less equal than at any time since the 1930s: the combined fortunes of the 1,000 richest people in Britain rose £60 billion in 2011), and the failure of the Labour party to offer a proper alternative. They quote Martin Luther King: riots are an expression of anger, "the language of the unheard." The statement ends with a call to demonstrate, strike and protest, as a response to the state of despair which leads to riots.
Tariq Ali, writing in the LRB blog asks "Why here, why now?":
Ali sees one answer to such a question as the build up of grievances over a long period of time, then triggered by a particular event (in this case the police shooting of Mark Duggan). Ali blames the governments of the last three decades (for privileging the wealthy), along with the lacklustre state media and the Murdoch networks, and the business elite. Ali also complains about the lack of a political alternative to seriously challenge the neo-liberal structures which have increased social inequality over the last 30-40 years.
For a slightly different view of the riots, see this article in New Statesman by The Staggers:
Here it is argued that the riots are not a modern problem and that the explanation of most on the Left, that the riots are the result of contemporary social issues, is misleading. Instead, this article offers a historical look at rioting, arguing that riots have often occurred in Britain, in both urban and rural settings, and that the common thread uniting them all is economic pressure. It ends with a hopeful message that in today's Britain we have progressed beyond the usual response: sending in the army, making arrests, but not addressing the economic situation which leads to riots.
Lastly, David Harvey has just written an article on the riots in Counter Punch:
He begins by noting that the use of animal-terminology to describe the looters - the Daily Mail called them "nihilistic and feral teenagers" - was also used to describe the communards in Paris in 1871. The latter were referred to as wild animals, as hyenas, that deserved to be executed (which they were) in the name of the sanctity of private property, morality, religion, and the family. He then goes on to make the point that we live in a society where capitalism itself is feral:
"Feral politicians cheat on their expenses, feral bankers plunder the public purse for all its worth, CEOs, hedge fund operators and private equity geniuses loot the world of wealth, telephone and credit card companies load mysterious charges on everyone's bills, shopkeepers price gouge, and, at the drop of a hat swindlers and scam artists get to practice three-card monte right up into the highest echelons of the corporate and political world."
Harvey notes that what he is saying sounds shocking, that no politician would dare say it and that the press would only publish it to pour scorn on the sayer. But he believes that some people can see this is the case, particularly the people rioting. As for the rioting and looting, Harvey sees this as a more visible and blatant form of what is going on elsewhere. But he notes that sadly the rioters cannot see that it is capitalism which is feral and which should be put on trial. Nor could they demand it. But Harvey sees hope in the movements in Spain, Greece, and elsewhere. The difficult task is for more people to see feral global capitalism for what it is, and to ask the right questions in order to begin changing our societies.
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That's it for now. Please feel free to recommend other articles by posting links in the comments section below.
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