“THROUGHOUT history, one of the first casualties of riots has always been scientific understanding. From the French Revolution to modern-day riots such as those that caused chaos in English cities last month, concerted attempts by authorities to limit the ways events are explained make empirically grounded understanding virtually impossible.

One of the common methods that politicians use to strangle debate is to pass description off as explanation. Prime Minister David Cameron’s statements in the days following the English riots are a classic example of this. On 11 August, the day after order returned to the streets, he asserted to the House of Commons that the disturbances were “criminality pure and simple”. Later, at a youth centre in Witney, he stressed the events were not about race, social welfare cuts or poverty. “No, this was about behaviour.”

Trying to understand the English riots is not a crime – opinion – 20 September 2011 – New Scientist.