Rioters as insiders, not outsiders: A study of Dutch mayors’ relational communications in response to the 2021 anti-curfew riots

The imposition of a curfew by the Dutch government in 2021, aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19, sparked widespread unrest and violent protests across the Netherlands. This paper examines how mayors publicly communicated about the anti-curfew riots, focusing on their articulation of the government-citizen relationship in various leadership roles. We apply a relational model to assess the extent to which mayors acknowledged rioters as community members, a perspective that proves critical for reestablishing cooperative contact. Our content analysis of 719 newspaper articles finds that mayors communicated considerably more inclusively than is often assumed of public authorities and reveals a complex leadership style that crucially combines strict law enforcement with interpersonal empathy. While strongly condemning violent behavior on the one hand, mayors predominantly acknowledged rioters as authentic community members at the same time and expressed a desire for dialogue. These findings challenge the conventional belief that public authorities typically distance themselves from rioters and position them outside of society in an attempt to delegitimize and depoliticize riots. Dutch mayors’ more nuanced relational response offers valuable insights for developing effective de-escalation communication strategies, emphasizing the importance of recognizing and addressing underlying social grievances in citizen-government relationships.