London Riots 2011

Reasons, Role of the Social Media, Consequences

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 13, , language: English, abstract: The London riots in 2011 hit England very hard. They came up at a time when only a few people, like social workers or some politicians, were suspecting the chance of trouble among the population. The year 2011 has changed the world and its history completely with the uprisings in Arabia, called 'The Arabian Spring'. One year before nobody would have thought that regimes like in Egypt, Tunisia or Libya will be toppled out of power within only a few months. Starting in Tunisia and spreading over to Egypt, caused by the suicide of a man, revolutions broke out. Many opinion writers compared the uprisings in the Arabian world with the ones in London and all over England in 2011. They compared it, because the riots came up so spontaneously, on the one hand in Tunisia with the suicide of a young man and on the other hand in London with the shooting of a young man by the police . The exact reasons will be explained below. Many saw the riots as a wake-up call of a lost generation, of those who are rejected from mainstream British society. This rejection formed a powder keg over several years that exploded when the riots took place. More than in the Arabian Spring the London riots became a part of a long line of expressions of social unhappiness in the Western European societies, like in France. All those countries have introduced welfare systems to care for their populations. But despite centuries of effort they have not been able to solve the problems. Like in London there was action in Paris, the capital of France, too. Thousands were protesting against social cuts and a perceived lack of future. Like in London cars were burning, stores were smashed and violence ruled on the streets . This examples show that there are differences between the riots. On the one hand there have been revolutions against repression and the willing of millions to give their lives if necessary for freedom . On the other hand protests and actions caused by social unhappiness. But they had one thing in common: The leading role of the social media to keep the uprisings running. Facebook, Twitter, the Black Berry Messenger Service and other social media hand over the chance to the protesters to organize and plan the coming demonstrations or like in London: new lootings.