An expert in criminology and online extremism believes that the violent demonstrations currently sweeping the United Kingdom are fueled by the perceptions of threat that some layers of the population feel in the face of a maelstrom of problems that they project onto the “other.”
A sociology researcher at the University of London suggests that social networks have played a role in the violence that erupted throughout the United Kingdom in the last daysbut the real link is related to a “latent” problem wider.
“If you look at the particular incident that basically has been the real turning point of the violence and unrest, what it indicates is that it fuels a much bigger problem that has been there, latent“said Stephanie Alice Baker.
“He role of social networks in many of these riots it was much more symbolicand it was the way that people were able to communicate their solidarity with each other,” he added.
The expert argued that the xenophobic expressions of discomfort could be attributed in part to feelings of “denied freedoms” and perceived risks to British “sovereignty”.
“Hay Emerging feelings of nationalisma feeling that people are being left behind, a feeling that people’s freedoms are being deniedwhat is it sovereignty at stake of the nation,” he said.
“And much of this coincides with an increase in immigration and one cost of living crisis. So people have these firsthand experiences of grievances and many of these negative feelings are projected onto an ‘other’“.
Violent and xenophobic riots sweep through the United Kingdom
Britain has been convulsed by violence over the past week, with crowds screaming anti-immigrant and Islamophobic slogans and they have faced with the Police.
The riots have been fueled by far-right activists that use the social networks for spread false information over a Knife attack that killed three girls during Taylor Swift-themed workshop. Los false rumors That spread online that the suspect was a Muslim and asylum seeker led to attacks against immigrants and Muslims.
More than a dozen towns and cities have been caught up in the unrest, including London, Hartlepool, Manchester, Middlesborough, Hull, Liverpool, Bristol, Belfast, Nottingham and Leeds.
“I think these groups were already feeling a lot of these grievances and it just became the opportunity for them to unleash“said Baker, who added that seeing others engage in violent acts makes people “empowered and empowered to take action.”
The violence, which is one of the worst episodes of its kind in the United Kingdom in years, has led to hundreds of arrests while the Government promises that the rioters will feel “the full weight of the law” after throwing bricks and other projectiles at police, looting shops and attacking hotels used to house asylum seekers. The new British Government is struggling to quell the unrest and has announced a “standing army” of specialized police officers to deal with riots.
