Riots express a failure of politics rather than being merely criminal

Evidence

It could be, however, that our thinking about the problem is wrong-headed. It isn’t that music is lagging behind politics; the politics itself is missing. The major political event of the year in the UK was the riots, but they were political in a negative sense. Reactionary commentators attempted to evacuate the riots of any political content by classifying them as an outburst of criminality. But even if we reject this for the absurdity it plainly is, it’s possible to regard the riots as symptomatic — a symptom, precisely, of the failure of politics. … Ceasing to be a symptom is one definition of achieving political agency, and — in a world where professional politicians look like inert mannequins incapable of preventing multiple impending catastrophes — nothing could be more urgent than this. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1297

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The move of redefining political agency as ceasing to be a symptom is a genuinely dense, restructure-your-thinking formulation, not just a well-made point.
• XREF: connects to: Riots targeting shops reflect the collapse of the public, not mere consumerism — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1292; Riots erupt among the unaffiliated young and poor, not the organized — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 1128; Circulation-phase capitalism produces riots rather than strikes as its signature struggle — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 419 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Riots erupt among the unaffiliated young and poor, not the organized #expands (0.80) — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 1128
• Political revolt could be rerouted into mere crime by the penal apparatus #corroborates (0.80) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 435
• Circulation-phase capitalism produces riots rather than strikes as its signature struggle #corroborates (0.75) — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 419
• Circulation-phase capitalism provokes riots and blockades rather than strikes. #corroborates (0.75) — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 419
• Political violence arises from frustration over unmet value expectations #expands (0.75)