The 2011 England riots in European context: A framework for understanding the ‘life-cycle’ of riots

Abstract

This article examines the 2011 England riots and seeks to place them in their recent comparative context. Briefly, it sets out a ‘life-cycle’ model for (historical and comparative) analysis, and then uses this as the basis for contrasting the English experience with the rioting witnessed in other European countries in recent times – in particular the riots in France in 2005 and in Sweden in 2013. Using a range of sources, the analysis identifies a number of similarities and differences between the aetiology, nature and aftermath of the riots in the different countries, and argues that this illustrates both the potential of comparative analysis and the importance of moving beyond an examination of their causes, to study riots ‘in the round’.