Robert Green

Biography

Robert Green is a criminal justice PhD student at Rutgers University - Newark. His research focus is on counterterrorism and gender violence through a life course framework. He is experienced in through his work, on program evaluation and subcultural analysis. His most recent publications involve analysis of involuntary celibates (also called incels) and their culture of misogyny and violence.

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Research

Gender, Violence, Internet Subcultures, Terrorism

The Black pill pipeline: A process-tracing analysis of the Incel’s continuum of violent radicalization

Incels represent a subculture born on the Internet and unified by their inability to establish and maintain sexual relationships with women. When new members enter, they are placed at the beginning of a subcultural process that uses their shared experience to introduce them to increasingly radical viewpoints. In order to analyze Incel subculture, this research uses a purposive sample of on-line discussion boards of Incel culture and traces the subcultural process of radicalization. Findings suggest that Incels use a series of increasingly radical “pills” to denote their position within the subculture and move new and prospective members along an ever increasing pipeline of extremism resulting in both advocating for and approval of violence.

From Chads to Blackpills, a Discursive Analysis of the Incel’s Gendered Spectrum of Political Agency

The term “incel” is a portmanteau of the words “involuntary” and “celibate,” and incels as a group represent a new emergent Internet subculture. Often, they’ve been connected to viewpoints and language that promote toxic masculinity, while encouraging violence against women and minorities. Previous research has often highlighted incels’ views on women and the language used to perpetuate their antifeminist viewpoints and ideology. However, little research has been produced on how incels view themselves and other men. This research uses popular conversations from various incel message boards to qualitatively analyze the discourses incels use to convey the stratification of doing gender within their subculture. Incels use sex as a central metaphor to convey ideas about how power and resources should be distributed in society. Findings suggest that incels use a complex “interpretive repertoire” to describe a gendered spectrum of political agency.