Abstract
The London bombings have had a lasting effect on life in the United Kingdom in a variety of ways. While some of these have been discussed widely in the academic and public spheres, an aspect though significant, yet largely neglected, is that of trust.
The 7/7 bombings were as much an attack on trust as they were an attack on people, places, and objects. Whatever their contribution to the wider long-term development, key statistics show that the United Kingdom as a whole is a less trusting society today than it was ten years ago. Both trust in key institutions and generalised trust in unknown others have declined steadily, prompting the Edelman Trust Barometer to classify the UK as a ‘distrusting society’ in 2015, for the first time. Furthermore, surveys often report that respondents perceive social diversity and immigration as complications in rebuilding this trust.
These observations will be concerned mainly with the issue of generalised trust, i.e. (how) can we trust unknown others in our society? As such, the questions are not geared towards the institutional level (what can be done by ‘the government’, ‘the authorities’?, etc.), but rather address the individual level: how is our individual experience of trust affected by an attack such as the 7/7 bombings, and what are rational strategies for dealing with these effects in our daily lives?
The 7/7 bombings were as much an attack on trust as they were an attack on people, places, and objects. Whatever their contribution to the wider long-term development, key statistics show that the United Kingdom as a whole is a less trusting society today than it was ten years ago. Both trust in key institutions and generalised trust in unknown others have declined steadily, prompting the Edelman Trust Barometer to classify the UK as a ‘distrusting society’ in 2015, for the first time. Furthermore, surveys often report that respondents perceive social diversity and immigration as complications in rebuilding this trust.
These observations will be concerned mainly with the issue of generalised trust, i.e. (how) can we trust unknown others in our society? As such, the questions are not geared towards the institutional level (what can be done by ‘the government’, ‘the authorities’?, etc.), but rather address the individual level: how is our individual experience of trust affected by an attack such as the 7/7 bombings, and what are rational strategies for dealing with these effects in our daily lives?
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | 7th July London Bombings: A Decade of Reflection |
| Editors | Serena Hussain, Mike Hardy, Fiyaz Mughal |
| Pages | 23-27 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Publication status | Published - 7 Jul 2015 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Sociology and Political Science