A Brighton academic who studies crowd behaviour says Wednesday night’s peaceful demonstration shows how crowds can also have a positive impact.
Dr Chris Cocking, a psychologist at the University of Brighton, said counter-demonstrations in response to reports of far-right rioting were “a community rising in response, not in anger, but in solidarity”.
But he warned against simplistic portrayals of the reasons for the riots which prompted those demonstrations.
Of the aftermath of the riots, he said: “People came out to clean the streets, raise funds for community resources targeted by rioters, and on Wednesday, we saw thousands rally to protect properties belonging to immigration lawyers.”
Dr Cocking also cautioned against the use of terms like “mindless thuggery” and “wanton criminality” to describe the recent unrest.
He said: “Resorting to these sorts of descriptions prevents us from understanding the underlying causes of riots and, more importantly, how to prevent them in the future,.
“If we simply focus on describing and condemning the violence without seeking to understand it, we risk repeating the same mistakes.
“The peaceful demonstrations we saw this week are a testament to the power of collective action for good. This is the direction we need to move in as a society.”
Hmm, I’m not sure I entirely agree with Dr Cocking. I think it is important to set those lines that we deem intolerable. Understanding the cause of the frustrations, certainly, and if that understanding leads to “because they wanted to engage in mindless thuggery”, that is reasonable. Unfortunately, not every action has a deep meaning and justification behind it. Of course, I am open to having my views challenged.