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Programme examining the ideas and forces which shape public policy in Britain and abroad, presented by distinguished writers, journalists and academics.

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Analysis: Non-Riotous Behaviour

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Non-Riotous Behaviour

19/09/2011

BBC Radio 4 - Analysis, Non-Riotous Behaviour

Ask not why people riot, but why they obey the law. Jamie Whyte examines civil obedience.

On the topic of riots, philosopher Roger Scruton tells us, 'What needs explaining is why they don't occur, not why they do.' Presenter Jamie Whyte searches for some answers.

This summer's riots provoked much speculation about the factors which prompted so many people to break the law. But philosopher-turned-commentator Jamie Whyte is more interested in understanding why this sort of thing doesn't happen more often. Is it fear of arrest or is it morality that makes most of the people abide by the law for most of the time? In search of the causes of mass civil obedience, Jamie Whyte speaks to leading experts in the fields of philosophy, psychology and anthropology.

Contributors include:
Roger Scruton, philosopher and writer
Quentin Skinner, professor of the humanities & expert on modern political thought 
Tim Harford, the Financial Times Undercover Economist and presenter of More or Less on Radio 4
George Klosko, political philosopher
Alex Bentley, anthropologist
Carol Hedderman, criminologist

Producer: Simon Coates.

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