The day after the Stockholm 2013 riots : Järva as The Safe City?

Abstract: Urban riots have increased in the global-north in recent years. Previous research on riots identify causes and triggers, but also where they are more likely to happen. Rioters, residents and the police are commonly studied. Housing companies and related stakeholders with a long-term interest in the local environment are under-studied in relation to riots, but also the long-term effects. This thesis aims to contribute to an increased understanding of the long-term effects of riots. In doing so, literature on riots, neoliberalisation and Jacques Rancière’s understanding of politics synthesise the theoretical framework. The thesis is based on a case-study of the Stockholm 2013 riots including participatory observations and interviews of housing companies and other ‘long-term’ actors. Some established practices on ‘safety measures’ in public spaces have intensified, and to some degree extended, since the Stockholm riots. Simultaneously, safety as an overall objective frames most practices by the participants, and tend to be viewed as consensus. The participants, however, rarely recognise their own role in relation to the riots, in which it is concluded that urban riots are to be expected in the future unless they start recognising their own role in shaping the environment that they are trying to overcome.