Street government: the role of the violent street gang in the London riots

In London, the localised riots which occurred post-Tottenham all had their genesis in the violent street gang. This increasingly visible and evolving presence in the excluded neighbourhoods of the capital operates its own forms of social control and authority in its own social field – a form of street government. The riots provided an opportunity for the sudden temporal expansion of this social field as gangs acted as the crucible for events. The 2011 riots in London revealed significant aspects of UK gang organisation and culture which are the starting point to understanding these disturbances.