The “August Riots” of 2011 in the UK

University Of Michigan 101

The ‘August riots’ were portrayed by the media and politicians as the actions of ‘greedy feral youth’ within a ‘criminal underclass’. Several major political figures implicitly racialised the events by attributing the signifier of ‘gang cultures’ to their public analyses. Using hard research, film and the voices of participants, this lecture will provide of what (actually) happened, who was involved and how they did it. It will also provide an empirical critique of the representation of the events in the media and mainstream politics.