Cities of consumers: a reading of the 2011 English riots

This article analyses the urban-centred riots of August 2011 in England from the point of view of consumerism and city spaces. Asking what was motivational behind these historic – if little studied – riots, the paper is divided into two sections. The first section examines consumerism as a key concept, developing C. E. Griffin’s work on youth cultures, to evidence a broader societal tension between a consumerist drive and material depravation among a depoliticised youth. A desire for goods that cannot be materialised is described as a phenomenon that is experienced spatially through urban areas in which the unattainable goods are contained. The second section considers David Harvey’s view that the city itself, as a socialised space, is depoliticised in failing to inspire and structure a coordinated political movement during the riots. Analysing theories of city space in relation to a consumerist drive the article proposes that, even while young looters were not necessarily united around a political ideal that then fostered corresponding action, their looting communicates a pre-established pattern of consumption worthy of critical study. Through the development of these overlapping themes, it is intended that the context of rioting is attended to within wider patterns of consumerism in the urban locale. Reading this historical episode in a context of a global health pandemic helps prompt future discussion about how digitalised spaces rather than high streets might (re)direct a consumerist drive.