Belkhiria, Leila (2023) Who Are Incels and How Does the Definition Impact Approaches to Deradicalization? Bachelor thesis, Global Responsibility & Leadership (GRL).
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Abstract
The emergence of the internet and social media has enabled individuals to express their apprehensions, dissatisfactions, and ire in an anonymous manner. Within this context, the manosphere has emerged as a loosely affiliated network of sexist organizations that portray men as marginalized by the gender hierarchy. The manosphere encompasses a range of subgroups, including those that espouse extremist views, such as the subculture of individuals who identify as involuntarily celibate (incel). The incel community has garnered scholarly attention and sparked discourse in recent times. According to what I call the “evil revenge” discourse, inceldom has transformed into a terrorist entity because of deeply ingrained misogynistic and hostile ideologies. An alternative perspective, hereby called “violent frustration”, suggested by a cohort of scholars posits that individuals identifying as incels may suffer from psychological disorders, experiencing a sense of despair, exasperation, and ostracism. The present thesis acknowledges the ongoing academic discourse surrounding the phenomenon of inceldom and its potential relationship with the internet in terms of incel deradicalization. In furtherance of this discourse, this current investigation adopts a passive observational approach towards the incel community on the online platform 4chan. Results show that the examination of scholarly literature and the close observation of incels in their natural environments provide robust evidence for both paradigms. Furthermore, it is possible that certain individuals who identify as incels do not meet the aforementioned criteria, suggesting that the incel community encompasses a diverse range of individuals who cannot be easily categorized. Thus, the findings of this study indicate that there is a need to broaden the range of deradicalization strategies. Investigating the potential of the internet to mitigate the radicalization of incels and the efficacy of mental health interventions in reducing stigmatization may prove to be pivotal. This approach encompasses both paradigms, potentially facilitating the process of deradicalization among individuals identifying as incels.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Name supervisor: | McKeown, M.C. |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Sep 2023 10:53 |
| Last Modified: | 12 Sep 2023 10:53 |
| URI: | https://campus-fryslan.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/343 |
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