THE summer outbreak of rioting which swept the UK is to come under the spotlight at a York conference.
The event, at the University of York, will examine the unrest and look at issues such as economic decline, social inequality and criminal culture, discussing their impact on the wave of violence.
Organised by the university’s Centre for Urban Research (CURB), it will take place at Wentworth College today and tomorrow. Areas which will be studied were the media response to the riots, street gangs, interviews with rioters and how social media was used during the unrest.
Dr Rowland Atkinson, of the university’s department of sociology, said: “The meeting has been organised as a rapid response to the disturbances and is fuelled by a need to challenge and deepen the often superficial commentaries offered at the time. The symposium will instead help to develop perspectives which help us examine the social, economic and political preconditions which triggered the riots.”
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