On the Role of a Social Identity Analysis in Articulating Structure and Collective Action: The 2011 Riots in Tottenham and Hackney

Abstract

Abstract.Theoretical perspectives that give primacy to ideological or structural determinism have dominated criminological analysis of the 2011 English 'riots'. This paper provides an alternative social psychological perspective through detailed empirical analysis of two of these riots. We utilise novel forms of data to build triangulated accounts of the nature of the events and explore the perspectives of participants. We assert these riots cannot be adequately understood merely in terms pre-existing social understandings and political realities and that identity based interactional crowd dynamics were critically important. The paper demonstrates the value of the social identity approach in providing criminological theory with a richer and deeper perspective on these complex social phenomena.3

The evolving normative dimensions of ‘riot’: Towards an elaborated social identity explanation

“…The analysis comprised, first, the most detailed anatomy of the Haringey events yet produced. This triangulated account confirms that the initial escalation of collective conflict took place following police intervention into the crowd on Tottenham High Road (Stott et al., ). When this first intensification developed, it was evidently an ‘anti‐police riot’ in the first instance.…”

“…First, there is the social significance—this was the first of what became the biggest wave of urban riots in the UK for 30 years; it was the catalyst from which the other riots subsequently developed across the next four days (Lewis et al., ). Second, this event exhibited clear prima facie evidence of normative change as well as escalation (Reicher & Stott, ; Stott et al., ). The event developed from a peaceful protest outside Tottenham police station to violent conflict between crowd and police to widespread looting in two shopping centres located some distance away.…”

A social identity model of riot diffusion: From injustice to empowerment in the 2011 London riots

“…The third contribution of the present study is to the social identity approach. While the social psychology of riots has been transformed in the last 30 years by social identity concepts, the emphasis so far has mostly been on discrete events (e.g., Reicher, ; Stott & Drury, ; Stott et al, ). Here we have shown how this approach can be extended to the question of diffusion between events.…”

The stages of mass mobilization: separate phenomena and distinct causal mechanisms

“…Events may involve new information about politicians, corruption, sex scandals, political and military fiascos, dramatic actions of an activist inside or outside the political system, and blatant abuse of power by security forces. Various types of events may generate spontaneous protest motivation, including "government actions, like the announcement of a new policy or a Supreme Court decision," "unplanned events such as accidents" (Meyer & Staggenborg, 1996, p. 1638Staggenborg, 1993), and incidents of reckless use of force by police forces (Drury, Reicher, & Stott, 2012, 2015Shultziner, 2018;Stott et al, 2017).…”