‘Youth Riots’ and the Concept of Contentious Politics in Historical Research

Abstract

This article analyses European 'youth riots' as a social phenomenon after World War II. It also uses a specific riotthe 1948 Stockholm Easter Riotsin order to discuss the limits and potential of some theoretical assumptions underlying the field of historical contentious politics studies, primarily 'contentious politics' and 'claims'. Using police reports and newspapers, the article shows that the riots were part of a European repertoire of post-war 'youth riots', but that they also bear similarities to an older popular repertoire of contention in Sweden. However, the riots do not really fit into the concept of 'contentious politics', as this concept is built on 'claim-making' as a key aspect and the participants did not make explicit claims. This leads to the conclusion that other theoretical tools, inspired by the concept of 'moral economy', are better suited for understanding the motivations of the rioters, whose actions are interpreted as a way of defending a perceived moral right of access to the urban public space. Keywords youth riots, contentious politics, modern Swedish historyIn the spring of 1948, Stockholm was shaken by the so-called Easter Riots. For almost a week, 3,000-5,000 people clashed with police in the district of Södermalm. In the press coverage, these events were described as 'youth riots', indicating that the main actors were adolescents and hinting that the riots were a symptom of 'youth problems'; a perceived societal problem hotly debated at the time. The riots were not unique. In Stockholm, they were the first of a series of 'youth riots', including the riots in Berzelii Park in 1951 and 1954, the New Year's Eve Riots in 1956, and the riots at Hötorget Square in 1965. Similar riots took place in other Swedish and European cities at approximately the same time. With a few exemptions, 'youth riots' are understudied in Swedish historiography; somewhat surprising, as for many decades there has been a thriving Swedish research tradition focusing on street-level conflicts such as riots and other public protests.

Delinquency abstainers in adolescence and educational and labor market outcomes in midlife: A population-based 25-year longitudinal study.

“…Our own sample was born in the mid- to late 1970s in Norway, entering their teens a few years after the Dunedin sample. However, several studies suggest that what is conceptualized and coined as delinquency may differ between social contexts and may undergo major changes over time (Bradley, 2012; Pinto & Ericsson, 2019). Thus, we do not know whether our own findings may be generalized to other social contexts and to younger samples.…”

After riots: Toward a research agenda on the long-term effects of urban unrest

“…These works draw on archival material to piece together developmental dynamics in cities such as mediaeval enclosures of common land (Liddy, 2015), colonial cities and decolonization (Warren, 2001), and race relations (Kusmer & Trotter, 2009). The politics of rioting is also highlighted in some historical texts, which outline how the political cultures and political economies of cities shape and are shaped by popular action (e.g., Clover, 2016;Smith & Mitchell, 2018;Sernhede et al, 2016;Brink Pinto & Ericsson, 2019; see also Dikeç & Swyngedouw, 2017). With a gaze that spans decades or more, such work tells valuable and detailed stories of how popular violence is woven into the development of urban societies over time, and warrants caution against the present-centrism and the narrow temporal frames that dominate much of the literature examining contemporary riots.…”

“…The 2013 Stockholm riots, while attaining unprecedented international media attention, were far from the first manifestation of urban rebellion in the Swedish context. Some percursors include the 'hunger riots' of 1917 that spread to a large number of Swedish cities and towns; the 1948 Stockholm Easter Riots when a confrontation escalated between youth and police in a central working-class area; and waves of uprising in the 1950s and 1960s (see Brink Pinto & Ericsson, 2019;Peterson et al, 2017;Sernhede et al, 2016)-some of which had significant policy effects. Despite commonalities, contemporary riots (since the 2000s) differ from earlier rebellions in that they do not primarily occur in central city areas but in suburban multicultural neighborhoods and thus have a racial dimension.…”