English riots

Synopsis

England riots: Maps and timeline (BBC)

è Where and how did it happen?

Best of Youtube: The poignant video of the Bad Samaritans (BBC)

è Do you understand why this last video, broadcasted on the BBC at prime time, has so deeply affected the English?

In search of social causes

Interactive map: England riots: was poverty a factor? (Guardian)

è Is poverty a factor?

Video: Parents 'not to blame' for riots (BBC)

è Could we blame the parents?

Video: Why I rioted: One man's personal take (Guardian)

è Why did he rioted?

What the people think :

England riots: journalist statements (YouGov)

Rioting + unrest (YouGov)

è What’s the main cause of the riots, according to the people ?

What the Prime Minister says

Cameron pledges to 'mend broken society' (BBC)

Welfare post-riots: 'How could you make it any tougher?' (Guardian)

è What’s the PM diagnosis? And what’s his predicament?

è Do you think it’s accurate?

Crime and Punishment

What the judges said

Riot jail sentences in crown courts up to three times longer than average (Guardian)

What happened to the rioters in court? (BBC)

è Are the sentences harsh?

What the people think :

Riots: Punishments too harsh? (YouGov)

Repairing broken Britain (YouGov)

è According to the people, are the sentences too harsh?

Homework

Sociologists on the hot spots (for the Guardian):

Behind the Lewisham riots: 'it was all about money' 

Behind the Clapham riots: 'the police are the enemy'

Behind the Hackney riots: 'Nobody seems to listen to us' 

Behind the Manchester riots: 'they are saying we have nothing'

Behind the Brixton riots: 'a sense of injustice and lack of entitlement'

Behind the Wood Green riots: 'a chance to stick two fingers up at the police'

Behind the Salford riots: 'the kids are angry'

Synthesis : Behind the riots: what young people think about the 2011 summer unrest

è List and classify the main social factors mentioned by the rioters. In what way are they relevant to explain the riots?

The logic of a riot: the tipping-point phenomenon  

UK riots: What turns people into looters? (BBC)

è How does a meeting become a riot?

è How does rioting become looting?   

Editorials from the main daily newspapers (except for The Times, unavailable freely online):

A shock to the system (The Independant)

Liberal certainties tested to destruction (The Daily Telegraph)

Urban riots: seven days that shook Britain (The Guardian)

è Find out which one is a conservative daily, which one is a liberal (leftist) daily, and which one is a moderate (centre) daily.