Programme full

Friday 17 April 2015 09:00 - 10:30
ROUNDTABLE SESSIONS
The ‘Peaks And Troughs’ of Societal Violence: Revisiting the Actions of the Turkish and Kurdish
Shopkeepers during the 2011 London Riots
Dona, G., Taylor, H.
(University of East London)
This article problematises the focus on the centres of violent episodes, by looking at an incident of contained violence
during the London riots when Turkish and Kurdish 'shopkeepers' in Dalson, East London chased rioters away.
Introducing a 'peaks' and 'troughs' approach to the understanding of violence, the article argues that the peaks of
violence are informed by the troughs of non-violence, and vice-versa. The study shows that the Kurdish and Turkish
shopkeepers' willingness to confront the rioters was informed by concurrent events in other locations, as well as prior
experience of political and social unrest locally, nationally and internationally. Contrary to the tendency to pigeonhole
social actors during the London riots into fixed roles, the study shows that the Kurdish and Turkish shopkeepers saw
themselves shifting between being political demonstrators, potential victims, bystanders and protectors. While the
containment of violence during the riots consisted mainly of preparing and waiting - of the troughs in anticipation of a
brief chase - the shopkeepers' actions were reimagined by commentators in the media, social media and beyond
through the peaks of violence, using metaphors of war and resistance that essentialised the shopkeepers' identities as
fighters, defenders and heroes. Yet, reverberations of their resistance in social media are likely to have contributed to
the containment of violence in other parts of London.
Preventing Gang Violence: Do Projects Engage Risk or the Responsive?
Wilson, A., Hodgson, P.
(Nottingham Trent University)
In the aftermath of the 2011 riots the Government set out its priority for reducing gang related violence in the report
'Ending Gang and Youth Violence'. This was backed with funding proportionate to the number of young people in the
population of cities identified as having a gang problem. This paper is based on a retrospective assessment of an
innovative project in a Midlands city that delivered a package of interventions, including assistance for those who
indicated motive to change and enforcement against those who did not. Potential participants were identified by
assessing risk factors from information drawn from a wide range interested agencies, from schools to the police. Thirty
potential participants were approached for involvement in the project, twelve consented.
The research has focused on the outcomes of those engaged by the project but it has attempted to answer the difficult
question of whether the young people recruited were those most at risk or the ones who were simply more responsive
to the approach of the authorities. Information is drawn from interviews with participants and family members and data
made available by agencies.
The project has been identified by the Home Office as being worthy of replication. This research should offer
information to support or question that assumption.
Rights, Violence and Crime 2
ROUNDTABLE 19, CONFERENCE HALL, HAMISH WOOD BUILDING
Engaging Disadvantaged Communities in Co-production: Civic Pride or the Retreat of the State?
Booth, J.
(University of Wales Trinity Saint David)
According to Pestoff et al co-production is the 'autonomous service delivery by citizens without direct state
involvement, but with public financing and regulation' (in Pestoff & Brandsen, 2008: 101). On the face of it 'coproduction'
is a model of service delivery that is empowering. It relies less on 'expert-systems' telling individuals what
their needs are and more on communities, families and individuals working in partnership with professionals to identify
their own needs, to co-create solutions to social exclusion, and thus, ultimately, bring about positive and sustainable
change that enhances the civic voice. However there is a tension between the theory of empowerment as a driver of
social change (Dalrymple and Burke, 2006) and its application in the community. Co-production can be seen as a
change in the balance of political and social power, but it could be used to justify a reduction in service provision,
reflecting a 'hardening' of attitudes towards individuals in need and an ideological questioning of the state's
responsibility to meet those needs. What is more, if this 'bottom-up' model of service provision is being imposed on
disadvantaged individuals and communities, whether as a way of saving money or removing state responsibility, this
diminishes the transformative potential in the rebalancing of power and the fortification of rights.
245 BSA Annual Conference 2015
Glasgow Caledonian University