Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

“Infamy is better than total obscurity” - En studie av incel-rörelsens ideologi och radikaliseringsprocess

Berggren, Elin LU (2025) UNDK02 20242
Department of Political Science
Abstract
Since the mid 2000’s several terror attacks have been committed by men who have identified themselves as incels, which has led authorities to point out misogyny as a motive behind terrorism. Despite this, incels and misogynistic terrorism are severely understudied today, which has created a knowledge gap in the research field. The aim of this research project was to fill said gap by reaching a better understanding of the incel ideology, as well as the radicalization process leading to misogynistic terrorism. Using qualitative methods - ideology analysis and content analysis - this study examines written materials from the incel-movement; threads from incel forum, the "incel Wikipedia," and Elliot Rodger’s manifesto. The results show that... (More)
Since the mid 2000’s several terror attacks have been committed by men who have identified themselves as incels, which has led authorities to point out misogyny as a motive behind terrorism. Despite this, incels and misogynistic terrorism are severely understudied today, which has created a knowledge gap in the research field. The aim of this research project was to fill said gap by reaching a better understanding of the incel ideology, as well as the radicalization process leading to misogynistic terrorism. Using qualitative methods - ideology analysis and content analysis - this study examines written materials from the incel-movement; threads from incel forum, the "incel Wikipedia," and Elliot Rodger’s manifesto. The results show that incels have a united incel-ideology where they view society as gynocentric and that women’s rights need to be minimized. Results showed that they do support violence, but that there’s not enough organization or leadership within the group for the incel-movement to become a terrorist organization. Further, I found that the radicalization process for misogynistic terrorism is similar to radicalization for other motives such as politics or religion. I conclude that the incel-movement is a modern terrorism, where men share a misogynistic ideology within an echochamber, and therefore could act as enablers and supporters for lone-wolf terrorism. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Berggren, Elin LU
supervisor
organization
course
UNDK02 20242
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
misogyn-terrorism, radikaliseringsprocesser, incels, ideologianalys
language
Swedish
id
9180668
date added to LUP
2025-02-17 11:07:18
date last changed
2025-02-17 11:07:18
@misc{9180668,
  abstract     = {{Since the mid 2000’s several terror attacks have been committed by men who have identified themselves as incels, which has led authorities to point out misogyny as a motive behind terrorism. Despite this, incels and misogynistic terrorism are severely understudied today, which has created a knowledge gap in the research field. The aim of this research project was to fill said gap by reaching a better understanding of the incel ideology, as well as the radicalization process leading to misogynistic terrorism. Using qualitative methods - ideology analysis and content analysis - this study examines written materials from the incel-movement; threads from incel forum, the "incel Wikipedia," and Elliot Rodger’s manifesto. The results show that incels have a united incel-ideology where they view society as gynocentric and that women’s rights need to be minimized. Results showed that they do support violence, but that there’s not enough organization or leadership within the group for the incel-movement to become a terrorist organization. Further, I found that the radicalization process for misogynistic terrorism is similar to radicalization for other motives such as politics or religion. I conclude that the incel-movement is a modern terrorism, where men share a misogynistic ideology within an echochamber, and therefore could act as enablers and supporters for lone-wolf terrorism.}},
  author       = {{Berggren, Elin}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{“Infamy is better than total obscurity” - En studie av incel-rörelsens ideologi och radikaliseringsprocess}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}