ABSTRACT

The riots that occurred in the Lozells area of Birmingham, Central England, towards the end of 2005 were somewhat unique in character. Unlike previous inner-city riots in England and Wales during the 1980s (and indeed in Lozells and the neighbouring district of Handsworth in 1981 and 1985), they did not involve direct conflict between the (primarily) African-Caribbean population and the police. Nor, like the disorders in the rest of the country during 1991–2, was it a case of white working-class youths living on housing estates on the periphery of cities set against the police. Similarly, they differed from the 2001 riots examined above, involving South Asian youths and the police, in addition to antagonism between white neo-Fascists and South Asians. Rather, they entailed members from the African-Caribbean and South Asian communities in conflict with each other and, in turn, against the police. This chapter will outline the unfolding events of the Lozells disorders, superficially caused by a rumour concerning the rape of an African girl by South Asians, as well as the policing operation. 1 It then moves on to consider the wider contextual factors and arguments put forward as to the underlying causes of the riots, as well as the present realities. It concludes by comparing in more detail these events with the 1980s Handsworth/Lozells riots.