Last year International Alert produced a conflict analysis of the UK, the conclusions of which have a resonance with the fatal attack on British soldier Lee Rigby last month in Woolwich and its aftermath.
According to the Institute for Economics and Peace’s inaugural peace index for the UK, the UK has become more peaceful over the past decade. There has been a lot of head scratching and theories about why violence and crime is falling in the UK. The authors suggest a range of factors, including: changes in police practices and technological improvements; an aging population; decreasing alcohol consumption; and rising real wages due to the introduction of the minimum wage.
On the face of it the IEP findings are contrary to our analysis, and the intuitions and predictions of many other organisations and experts, particularly when it states that "despite the global financial crisis, violence has continued to decline in both the UK and Europe even during the ongoing recession". Nevertheless, the evidence is that crime and violent crime is falling – we just don’t know why.
Yet perhaps rather than debating why crime is falling, we should instead focus on how to keep up the good work.
Marginalisation and deprivation
The most appropriate and effective way of preventing young marginalised people – particularly young males, who are the main perpetrators of violent crime – from taking extreme actions is by creating spaces for them to talk and discuss ideas. In other words, hearing from those who are seldom heard.
There is an increasing detachment in the UK from traditional political forums. The decline in participation in the current three-party system has led to an increase in attempts to find alternative means of expression and participation in movements which emphasise direct action, such as UK Uncut and Occupy. But do these movements serve as a credible platform for a voice and participation by the most marginalised?
Marginalisation, deprivation and lack of status are all factors in young people joining gangs. "Faced with low aspirations created by generations of deprivation, young people try to refashion their world to create an opportunity for recognition", our analysis found. "The role of respect highlights the importance for young people to take control of their own lives in circumstances that may feel inescapable as well as the need for recognition that is often denied by traditional channels."
Exclusion is the overarching theme in current experiences of young people, be it from the labour market, education or society as a whole. Our analysis concluded that "the lessons learned from analysing the state of youth have wider implications. Such structural changes in the UK economy and political foundations are compounded by redefinitions of citizenship that draw stark lines between deserving and undeserving citizens, 'original' versus 'migrant' citizens, etc. Economic exclusion, in this context, can increase resentment and for daily humiliations to be easily (mis)interpreted as inter-group injustice."
This socioeconomic marginalisation has only been exacerbated by shocks like the economic crisis. And the calls following the murder in Woolwich for more surveillance on individuals is likely to increase the marginalisation as more young marginalised people are given the proof of a society that doesn’t tolerate people like them.
Recognition and voice
What we argued in our conflict analysis is the following: "Going forward, it is essential to better understand the processes that link social exclusion and violence, examine the psychosocial impacts of marginality and the need for the sense of belonging, as well as to grasp the ways in which violence becomes normalised in these contexts. More practically, acknowledging the importance of recognition and voice, but also the fact that different groups of people may need different types of platforms for expression, a more creative approach needs to be adopted to the formation of spaces for inclusion and dialogue."
What has been missing in the comments and statements in the aftermath of Woolwich is how there are thousands of people paid and un-paid in the UK who provide spaces for young people to be heard and engage them in discussion, including teachers, youth workers and community activists. Alert itself does this throughout the world and in the UK; it is simple work yet demanding, effective yet hard to measure – you don’t get a young person putting on his or her evaluation of a session or activity: ‘Do you know that before I took part in these sessions and discussions I was thinking of committing an act of terrorism or smashing a Muslim in the face but now I’m not’!
What has actually occurred is that in some of the most deprived communities, the listening to those who are seldom heard is being done by extremists. That is, extremists are becoming smarter at identifying the most marginalised in society, exploiting the basis of marginality and translating it into strong narratives that resonate with the marginalised, and perhaps appearing or pretending to give voice to the excluded in society.
Interestingly, public officials in Broadlands, which according to the IEP index is the most peaceful area in the country, point to an initiative several years ago to engage young troubled people on a one-to-one basis as a factor in explaining their relative peacefulness.
To paraphrase Bill Clinton’s famous statement: it’s about voice, stupid! The total effect of violence to the economy is calculated at £124 billion (the equivalent of 7.7% of GDP). Clearly, therefore, there is no room for complacency. The more mechanisms there are for providing young marginalised people with a voice and spaces for dialogue, the more we (as a society) include not exclude.
Barry Navarro, Senior Programme Officer, UK
Find out about our work with young people in the UK here.
Photo: Young people from the Pakistani diaspora in the UK meet with officials from the FCO and DFID as part of our project ‘Promoting positive voices in diaspora communities’. Read about their visit here.
