”Kvinnor i Sverige är förlorade” : En kvalitativ innehållsanalys av radikalisering bland svenska incels

Sammanfattning

Does the Swedish incel community pose a threat to national security? Governments around the world have stressed the importance of drawing extra attention towards the growing movement of incels, a male-dominated group characterized by involuntary celibacy. The absence of intimate relationships causes frustration and anger towards a society that incels believe benefits women at the cost of men. This frustration has resulted in severe cases of incel-motivated violence. Today, Sweden has a relatively high proportion of incels in online communities, where the movement exists and grows. Therefore, this study aims to examine the extent to which radicalization occurs within Swedish incels’ discourse on the forum Flashback, and how it is manifested. Using Moghaddam’s Staircase to Terrorism as theoretical framework, the study analyses two Flashback threads through a qualitative content analysis. The results show that radicalization occurs on varying degrees, with clear patterns of perceived injustice, victimhood and enemy images at the lower steps of the staircase, and partial signs of normalization and group loyalty at higher steps. These findings suggest that radicalization among incels on Flashback partly occurs in a moderate to high extent, without being an arena for full violent extremism. This highlights the need for increased attention towards Swedish incel communities.