Sagnir - 01.06.2016, Page 124
of society experiencing the denial of basic rights. In his comparative study of the
riots in France 2005 and the 2011 England riots, Sutterlúty goes as far as to claim
that riots are driven by impulses and notions of normalcy from the participantS;
their expectations of equality and citizenship are being denied, thus creating the
wrath that the participants themselves describe as the root for the riots. This diS'
appointment of denied expectations is amplified in multi-ethnic neighbourhoods
with high youth unemployment. Especially important in connection with a majof'
ity of male participants. There is a paradox in a situation where the descendants
of first generation immigrants feel the disappointment of exclusion stronger thajj
their parents, even though, and perhaps just because they are more integrated-'
Sutterluty believes it is important that the victims of the riots shall not be forgotten
and that the perpetrators should be punished, but to purely see the riots as criminh
is to ignore the simple fact that the police and institutions of the state were the
main targets.21 The dehumanizing and depoliticizing of the participants and the
unrest in media brought about demands for more police repression. In his thesiSi
Moritz Sommer writes about journalists of The Times who later admitted that man)'
of them wanted to start shooting the participants.22 There was often great angeí
over the media’s unfair representations. On several occasions the media was in turn
attacked by participants in the riot. One example of this was the destruction of the
Bristol local newspaper the Evening Post offices by anarchists on August 11 201 *'■
A communique was later pubiished in the anarchist pamphlet August 2011 Rel’0^
Atiarchj iti the UK. There the media is portrayed as: “demonises those who choose
to resist and fight back”.23 Anarchist interpretations of the unrest differ gteat'
ly from the ideas that either people participated because they were denied basie
rights or that they wanted social change based on normative expectations. Insteao
the unrest is seen as a greater insurrection not only against police repression but
against an unjust society in general. It is claimed that riots open up for possibilitie5
for people to imagine different reaiities, for opportunities to creating new coni'
munities and autonomous regions.24 One could argue that anarchist perspective5
see riots as having an intrinsic value of enabling autonomy while analysis’s sud1
as Ferdinand Sutterlúty see riots as a desperate attempt of marginalised groups10
reclaiming normalcy and recognition. „
Others called for a gender analysis of the unrest. In the article “Rotis not riots
Liz Kelly and Aisha K. Gill writes about a discussion group they were invoh,e
with that wanted to explore these aspects. The authors recognize that the group 5
20 Ibid,p. 39-41,48.
21 Ferdinand Sutterluty, “The hidden morale of the 2005 French and 2011 English riots”, p. 40-41.
22 Moritz Sommer, “The Rioter’ as ‘Pleb’”, p. 29-30. Matthew Parris, “Stick with huskies and hoodies,
Mr Cameron”, http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/columnists/matthewparris/article3123274.ece.
Retrieved 14. August 2015.
23 August 2011 Revolt, p. 29-30. http://325.nostate.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05
/aug201 lriots-bwversion.pdf. Retrieved 14. August 2015.
24 Ibid, p. 5,10-11..
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