Introduction

This chapter attempts to develop an argument about the awkward parallels and contrasts between the use of a discourse of ‘respect’ as a policy tool – the Respect Agenda – and notions of ‘street respect’. There seems some irony in the fact that the issue of ‘respect governance’ surfaced, as a continuation of the government's anti-social behaviour (ASB) agenda, at a time when a street discourse of ‘respect’ was coming to be increasingly associated with urban youth violence in a number of cities. At a time when the government was insisting on a new culture of respect as a purported solution to many of our crime and disorder problems it has been instructive, to say the least, to reflect upon the ways in which some of the ‘least respected’ appeared to negotiate this scarce commodity among themselves. As well as comparing and contrasting these different discourses, the chapter also reflects upon some of the issues which may, arguably, underpin both.

An international language of respect?

The aim of this discussion is to ask some questions about the language of ‘respect’ and the ways in which it has been deployed in recent years. There may even be a case for saying that the notion of ‘respect’ has been rather overplayed of late; even as the government was subtly de-emphasising the Blairite Respect Agenda, with Louise Casey, the former ‘Respect Tsar’, reassigned to exploring how to more effectively ‘engage the public’ in ‘fighting crime’ (Casey, 2008). Yet just as this happened, the notion underwent a brief European renaissance as a ‘Respect’ logo decorated the shirtsleeves of the players and officials in the 2008 European football championships.

At the beginning of the EURO 2008 football championships UEFA President Michel Platini unveiled a campaign entitled ‘Respect’, which featured prominently throughout the event in Austria and Switzerland. According to Platini, ‘respect’, was part of an international language which could ‘be used as an umbrella term for lots of different initiatives’. UEFA was supporting social projects, each dedicated to a specific target group – schoolchildren, fans or disabled people. But the international language of ‘respect’ was also ‘a strong social, civic and humanitarian message’, highlighting ‘a concept which epitomizes all of our work at the level of social responsibility’.