Description
Following a series of deadly attacks, misogynist incels have piqued academic interest. However, recent attempts by terrorism scholars to understand incel radicalization, ideology, and mental health raise concerns. Relying on survey data, these contributions create an ‘Incel Radicalization Scale’ claiming to identify, measure, and help prevent radicalization among incels. In this paper, we caution against using this ‘Incel Radicalization Scale.’ First, drawing on a growing feminist knowledge base on incels and male supremacy, masculinity and violence, we question how core concepts (radicalization, violence, misogyny) and incels are defined. Second, we criticize the methods used for sampling and concept validation, including the reliance on incels' self-representation and the dismissal of their harmful online activity.’ Third, we assess what these shortcomings mean for conclusions regarding the ‘Incel Radicalization Scale’, the violent potential of incels, and the role of mental health and misogyny for male supremacist incel movements. We argue that these conclusions are prone to the dangers of legitimizing and platforming misogynist incel narratives of victimhood, overlooking the broader harms emanating from incel ideology, which are situated within wider societal structures normalizing misogynist violence and male and white supremacism. We therefore emphasize the importance of providing a comprehensive picture of incel radicalization that does not take incels' claims of ‘wounded male victimhood’ at face value, and considers how victimhood is conceptualized and negotiated in misogynist incel spaces.
Keywords: misogyny, incels, radicalization, victimhood, terrorism, feminist analysis, violence
