London, Paris, Fairbanks

Now 6 months and more than 6000 km away from London, I still feel as if I should be competent to have something intelligent to offer to those of my friends who ask the question what to think of the events. Thing is, after being away for the weekend, I only found the news this morning and haven’t managed to put together my own completely coherent narrative yet. So I’m offering some links and points of view. Make up your own mind.

One thing to note is that a lot politically left-of-center people, friends as well as commentators in the media, who have a dispassionate sociological-sympathetic view on the 80’s riots in England (Liverpool, Brixton and so forth), but condemn today’s in very strong words. The underlying and usually implicit idea seems to be that the kids of the 80s had good reasons to complain or even erupt into street battles, whereas today’s don’t. This is one of those statements that, to me, looks both true and untrue, depending on the angle you look at them. The comparison is a feature in many articles, and BBC has collected a few 1985 vs 2011 quotes. 

There is no doubt that the signals from the UK have been preoccupying for those who, like myself, follow the argument that economic inequality and social justice are the linchpin of a society’s wellbeing, at least for the Western post-industrial societies I’m familiar with. That, plus civil liberties. Violence, and even specifically in Haringey (the borough where Tottenham is), was being predicted even before it started (Guardian: Farewell youth clubs, hello street life – and gang warfare). But at the same time I’m having the thought that if we’re depending for peace on youth clubs and places for kids to hang out safely and get through the difficult years (most, after all, will grow up into adults with jobs and responsibilities) then we are just papering over the cracks. When living in London - including in Brixton - it struck me how hard it is, compared to, say, Paris, to be casual friends or acquaintances with people from very different walks of life. There, you meet at the café. (And in Alaska, for that matter, adverse weather conditions in a sparsely populated place draws people together - plus everyone goes fishing). You can’t hold a building together by the wallpaper. Where do people develop commonality? 

In the Guardian, Nina Power is the most unspoken one to be sympathetic or at least unsurprised about the riots. She’s in the minority, and the commenters aren’t happy. Some are terribly racist (despite the fact that in Enfield and Edmonton, looting and rioting was done by a white or ethnically mixed crows), and of course many have learnt the lesson of the endless chav mockery and jokes of the recent years. A very small number are at least thoughtful.

I followed the Guardian map, and of course am familiar with some places in South London. The BBC is reporting about Brixton. 

Back to the 1980s vs 2011 comparison, I think you can’t equate them, but not because kids today have it so much better than kids in the 80s (they probably don’t), but because the 80s riots have triggered so much debate that it changed the context. There is a feedback loop there. Stuff that was new to the mainstream 25 years ago is now a commonplace argument, or even a cliché. And expectations have shifted.

The strongest condemnation of the violence, to me, comes from those who’ve been working at making life better in the working-class neighbourhoods. Especially private individuals who happen to live there, like the Jamaican woman whose video was posted. Or those who are trying to run a business there (and not one that caters only to the resident yuppies). Brixton Cycles (mentioned above) is a worker’s cooperative. They do sell expensive bikes to yuppie commuters, but also have tons of local kids in the store - there’s a BMX track next door. Plus they’re major bike geeks. Quite a few of the businesses that got looted cater to the locals. The Curry’s in Brixton does, too. 

While I’m not naive enough to think that the 80’s rioters exercised political action in a pureness of purpose, today’s “getting free stuff” calls make for a sorry picture. Mobs are terrifying and speak to parts of human nature I don’t completely understand. It’s the depoliticised, consumerist nature of the calls to action (some details in London riots: how BlackBerry Messenger played a key role), and of course the disregard for families living in buildings set on fire, that makes me recoil. 

Then, of course,  a voice in me wonders why you would expect anything else from disaffected youths who have been taught and learnt the consumerism message much better than the citizenship message.