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Rioters need more understanding, says Social Scientist

June 03, 2005

jowen thumb.jpgLabeling riots such as those witnessed at Macquarie Fields as “criminal” is limiting our understanding of community protest, an academic at The University of New England will argue today (June 3).
PhD candidate John Owen has been asked to present a paper at the Political and International Studies seminar series.
He has chosen to look at the riots that happened in the suburb on the edge of south west Sydney in February earlier this year.
Then, rioters took to the streets, clashing with police over four intense nights after Matthew Robertson, 19 and Dylan Rayward, 17 died as a result of a high-speed police pursuit through the residential streets of the Glenquarie housing estate. The driver of the stolen vehicle, Jesse Kelly, evaded police for 12 days before organising his surrender in bush land on the outskirts of Campbelltown.
In his seminar, titled “Moral Indignation, Criminality and the rioting Crowd in Macquarie Fields”, Mr Owen will argue that protesters held a “legitimate claim” to their moral indignation.
“What has been ignored in the stress on criminal behaviour, principally by media and politicians, is the possibility that protest might be seen as justifiable by the participants, if the normal protocols regulating police and community behaviour are not observed,” Mr Owen said.
“One way that we can better understand this type of social phenomena is to understand the history and relationship between different members of the community, and to take into account how they view such matters.”
He said media reports which portrayed the riots as “scenes of hysteria, clashes between young people and authority”, only served the limit Australians’ understanding of what actually happened.
“Using a framework that imposes criminality on rioters is one way of preventing a broader understanding on these issues,” Mr Owen said.
“I would like to encourage a broader understanding of these events. Rather than endorse the perspective typically carried in the media, we should be looking to further our understanding of community protest.”
The seminar will be held in Room 122 in the Arts Faculty and begins at 11am. All are welcome.
John Owen is a PhD student in his second year of candidature with the School of Social Science at UNE.
For more information phone Mr Owen on 6773 3553 or
Lydia Roberts on 6773 2779.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at June 3, 2005 10:04 AM