From Self-Hatred to Hate Against Women. Incels and Their Relevance for Disengagement and Exit Work
This paper analyses the difficulty of clearly assigning the incel scene to a specific category of extremism. It shows how this misogynistic online subculture’s anti-feminist stance provides a central bridging narrative, creating a common ideological link between different extremist currents.
Against this backdrop, the paper highlights the importance of disengagement and exit work that is not specifically directed at any one category of extremism and so is able to react appropriately to new developments that resist easy classification. It calls for an expansion of low-barrier support services and the development of specific resources for incels, those in their social environment and relevant professionals. In conclusion, it identifies action areas for tertiary prevention and the structural challenges that policymakers and wider society must overcome.