Marginalization and Riots: A Rationalistic Explanation of Urban Unrest

摘要

Urban riots are typically carried out by individuals who live in residential areas that are relatively marginalized socially, economically and politically. Previous research has discussed several aspects of deprivation that may help explain this relationship. Contributing further to this research, we aim to explain why marginalization produces riots by developing a rationalistic specification of social mechanisms. The utility of our model is demonstrated by a case study of the 2013 Stockholm riots. The model consists of (a) general local incentives that appeal to individual motives, but only lead to participation in riots when (b) the delicate local equilibrium is destabilized by an event that (c) makes riots appear justified, risk-free and thrilling. The advantage of this rationalistic model is that it shows why other people, in other places, would have reason to act in much the same way under similar circumstances.