The Evolution of Violence: Social Media, Territory and Urban Change

• In Event: The Violence Revolution? Youth, Policy Mobility and the Public Health Approach

Abstract

In the aftermath of covid-19 lockdowns, young people are confronting a new set of challenges, and concerns have been raised of a ‘perfect storm’ for a resurgence in violence. At the same time, it is clear that the impact of lockdowns has been differentiated by place, and there is a need to understand these differences. This paper analyses long-term trends and contemporary dynamics of violence in Glasgow and London. While both cities have seen accelerating socioeconomic polarisation, embedded cultures of violent masculinity and emergent forms of criminal entrepreneurialism, there are significant divergences. As Cressida Dick, ex-Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, has noted, the cities are constituted by 'very different communities, very different dynamics and very different issues around violence and, indeed, youth violence.' Drawing on the voices of young people affected by violence and frontline practitioners, as well as secondary data on the micro-dynamics of violence at both city and neighbourhood level, the paper seeks to offer a contemporary account of the everyday violence in the lives of young people, engaging with both long-run change and recent debates surrounding covid-19, social media and austerity.

Authors

• Fern Gillon, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow

• Susan McVie, University of Edinburgh