Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Next book: Riotous Citizens: Ethnic Conflict in Multicultural Britain.
Riotous Citizens is a case study by two colleagues at Leeds University. It is a study of the major riots of 2001 in Bradford, which became infamous in part because of the severe penalties meted out to the so-called rioters (unprecedentedly long sentences were handed out). This book gives a detailed inside story. From my point of view, as a theorist of policing of public disorder, it’s a very provocative book. Several of us over the years have been putting together a general theory of what we think is a good overall explanation of the policing of public disorder. Paul Bagguley and Yasmin Hussain reject this theory, saying that patterns in protests don’t exist – an assertion I refute entirely! I do nonetheless recommend that people read the book to look at the principles of effective policing nominated by the authors and see how they might relate to what the police did well or badly in relation to the Bradford riots.
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David Waddington is Professor of Communication at Sheffield Hallam University. His most recent book, Policing Public Disorder, is a study into the way in which police tactics are likely to affect the amount of order or disorder occurring at protest events and crisis situations. Waddington’s other research interests include contemporary industrial relations and the regeneration of former mining communities. He tells FiveBooks about the nature and implications of the ways in which the police manage political protest and other ‘crowd order’ situations.
