‘Riots cannot be understood as an explosion of mob irrationality’

In one sense, the London riots defy explanation. All mob violence does.

When attempting to explain it, sociologists typically begin by telling you there’s no way to predict what will trigger a violent uprising.

“The most important feature of collective behaviour phenomena, especially riots, is that they are spontaneous and essentially unpredictable, as are so many statistically rare events,” said Erich Goode, a professor emeritus of sociology at State University of New York, Stony Brook.