Riots: An International Comparison Hardcover - 2015

From the rear cover

'This latest instalment in David Waddington's pathbreaking work on riots is a tour de force. Here, he and Matthew Moran undertake the first comparative analysis of major riots in Australia, France, Greece, the United Kingdom and the United States. Using a newly updated and elaborated version of the Flashpoints model, Moran and Waddington offer a template for understanding these highly variable and unpredictable social phenomena that moves beyond crude psychological or sociological reductionism. This carefully and clearly argued book will instantly become a "must have" for anyone studying urban violence, a focal point in the emerging field of the comparative study of riots, and will be of enormous interest to those concerned with social order and social movements'.-Professor Tim Newburn, London School of Economics, UK
The past ten years have been marked by a series of high profile and heavily mediatised riots across the globe. From the overspill of racial tensions in Sydney to anti-police riots in London, democratic societies have witnessed powerful and costly outbursts of anger and violence. But what are the causes of these large-scale episodes of collective disorder? Do they share common features? And what can they tell us about the nature and significance of riots more broadly?
In this book, the authors address these questions and more with a wide-ranging comparative study of rioting in five countries (Australia, England, France, Greece and the United States). Using a revised and expanded version of the Flashpoints Model of Public Disorder, Matthew Moran and David Waddington dissect these violent and ephemeral social phenomena, laying bare their internal logic and demonstrating the essentially political nature of riots.
Matthew Moran is Senior Lecturer in International Security in the Department of War Studies at King's College London, UK. He is the author of The Republic