Grenfell was not a state failure it was institutional violence [Video]

People are not used to thinking of decisions made in boardrooms or by housing authorities as “violent”. Yet the findings of the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire show how they can be.

The report lays out how routine decision-making by private construction companies and local authorities prioritised their own immediate economic benefit, in ways that knowingly produced an imminent threat to safety.

To prevent future tragedies like the Grenfell fire, it is important to understand these power relations – between those making the decisions and the tenants who were subject to the deadly outcomes – as a form of violence.

Most people understand “violence” as something that happens between two people or groups of people as a result of sudden or extreme behaviour. Yet often, the most extreme forms of violence occur as a result of mundane decisions made by governments or institutions over a long period of time.

In 2017, we …