A Socio-Legal Study of 2011 London Riots

This project uses the events of 2011 riots as a starting point to explore the relationship between law, justice and community in contemporary Britain. It examines the interplay between the public political discourse on community and the discourse on social order, which includes ideas on criminality and morality as well as the debates on the limits and possibilities of law and policing. Using 15 semi-structured interviews with social workers, police officers, barristers, solicitors and other professionals familiar with Tottenham riots as well as five interviews with a number 17 year olds from the Croydon area in South London, which was also affected by the riots, this study investigates what community means in today’s Britain and how it is linked to law, justice, social order and identity.