Exploring the global stage: globalisation, riots, unrest and protest

Riots accompany major social transformations. In our time, characterised by neoliberalism, globalisation and changing global balances of power, there is no doubt that riots serve as frequent reminders of that state of affairs. It is now a truism to say that riots have gone global or that information and communication technology has changed both the ecology and the meaning of riots. It now feels like clich to declare that riots, although local in nature, are impacting on a global stage. Yet there are moments when the accuracy of cliché can be acutely felt. One of the editors, resident in the UK, happened to visit the Philippines in August 2011. He then spent many hours watching BBC coverage of the UK riots from his hotel room in Cebu in the central area of the Philippines, the Visayas. Through that medium he was able to follow the events that unfolded virtually in real time, in English, from a British perspective but also tailored to a world audience. Needless to say, the hotel provided (slow) internet access as well so that social media such as Twitter could be trawled for information — some of it correct, some of it incorrect, but much of it immediate.