TY - JOUR A1 - Rothermel, Ann-Kathrin T1 - The role of evidence-based misogyny in antifeminist online communities of the ‘manosphere’ JF - Big data & society N2 - In recent years, there have been a growing number of online and offline attacks linked to a loosely connected network of misogynist and antifeminist online communities called ‘the manosphere’. Since 2016, the ideas spread among and by groups of the manosphere have also become more closely aligned with those of other Far-Right online networks. In this commentary, I explore the role of what I term ‘evidence-based misogyny’ for mobilization and radicalization into the antifeminist and misogynist subcultures of the manosphere. Evidence-based misogyny is a discursive strategy, whereby members of the manosphere refer to (and misinterpret) knowledge in the form of statistics, studies, news items and pop-culture and mimic accepted methods of knowledge presentation to support their essentializing, polarizing views about gender relations in society. Evidence-based misogyny is a core aspect for manosphere-related mobilization as it provides a false sense of authority and forges a collective identity, which is framed as a supposed ‘alternative’ to mainstream gender knowledge. Due to its core function to justify and confirm the misogynist sentiments of users, evidence-based misogyny serves as connector between the manosphere and both mainstream conservative as well as other Far-Right and conspiratorial discourses. KW - misogyny KW - male supremacy KW - far right KW - discourse KW - incels KW - radicalization KW - antifeminist KW - men's rights KW - manosphere Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517221145671 SN - 2053-9517 VL - 10 IS - 1 PB - Sage CY - Thousand Oaks, Calif. ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rothermel, Ann-Kathrin T1 - Gender at the crossroads BT - the role of gender in the UN’s global counterterrorism reform at the humanitarian-development-peace nexus JF - Critical studies on terrorism N2 - Since the early 2000s, the United Nations (UN) global counterterrorism architecture has seen significant changes towards increased multilateralism, a focus on prevention, and inter-institutional coordination across the UN’s three pillars of work. Throughout this reform process, gender aspects have increasingly become presented as a “cross-cutting” theme. In this article, I investigate the role of gender in the UN’s counterterrorism reform process at the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, or “triple nexus”, from a feminist institutionalist perspective. I conduct a feminist discourse analysis of the counterterrorism discourses of three UN entities, which represent the different UN pillars of peace and security (DPO), development (UNDP), and humanitarianism and human rights (OHCHR). The article examines the role of gender in the inter-institutional reform process by focusing on the changes, overlaps and differences in the discursive production of gender in the entities’ counterterrorism agendas over time and in two recent UN counterterrorism conferences. I find that gendered dynamics of nested newness and institutional layering have played an essential role both as a justification for the involvement of individual entities in counterterrorism and as a vehicle for inter-institutional cooperation and struggle for discursive power. KW - gender KW - institutions KW - feminism KW - United Nations KW - counterterrorism KW - triple nexus KW - discourse Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2021.1969061 SN - 1753-9153 SN - 1753-9161 VL - 15 IS - 3 SP - 533 EP - 558 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - London [u.a.] ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rothermel, Ann-Kathrin T1 - Gender in the United Nations’ agenda on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism JF - International feminist journal of politics N2 - The United Nations (UN) policy agenda on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE) promotes a “holistic” approach to counterterrorism, which includes elements traditionally found in security and development programs. Advocates of the agenda increasingly emphasize the importance of gender mainstreaming for counterterrorism goals. In this article, I scrutinize the merging of the goals of gender equality, security, and development into a global agenda for counterterrorism. A critical feminist discourse-analytical reading of gender representations in P/CVE shows how problematic imageries of women as victims, economic entrepreneurs, and peacemakers from both the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the Women, Peace and Security agenda are reproduced in core UN documents advocating for a “holistic” P/CVE approach. By highlighting the tensions that are produced by efforts to merge the different gender discourses across the UN’s security and development institutions, the article underlines the relevance of considering the particular position of P/CVE at the security–development nexus for further gender-sensitive analysis and policies of counterterrorism. KW - Counterterrorism KW - gender mainstreaming KW - security–development nexus KW - discourse KW - United Nations KW - feminism Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/14616742.2020.1827967 SN - 1461-6742 SN - 1468-4470 VL - 22 IS - 5 SP - 720 EP - 741 PB - Taylor & Francis CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gholiagha, Sassan A1 - Holzscheiter, Anna A1 - Liese, Andrea T1 - Activating norm collisions BT - interface conflicts in international drug control JF - Global constitutionalism N2 - This article puts forward a constructivist-interpretivist approach to interface conflicts that emphasises how international actors articulate and problematise norm collisions in discursive and social interactions. Our approach is decidedly agency-oriented and follows the Special Issue’s interest in how interface conflicts play out at the micro-level. The article advances several theoretical and methodological propositions on how to identify norm collisions and the conditions under which they become the subject of international debate. Our argument on norm collisions, understood as situations in which actors perceive two norms as incompatible with each other, is threefold. First, we claim that agency matters to the analysis of the emergence, dynamics, management, and effects of norm collisions in international politics. Second, we propose to differentiate between dormant (subjectively perceived) and open norm collisions (intersubjectively shared). Third, we contend that the transition from dormant to open – which we term activation – depends on the existence of certain scope conditions concerning norm quality as well as changes in power structures and actor constellations. Empirically, we study norm collisions in the area of international drug control, presenting the field as one that contains several cases of dormant and open norm collisions, including those that constitute interface conflicts. For our in-depth analysis we have chosen the international discourse on coca leaf chewing. With this case, we not only seek to demonstrate the usefulness of our constructivist-interpretivist approach but also aim to explain under which conditions dormant norm collisions evolve into open collisions and even into interface conflicts. KW - norm collisions KW - contestation KW - discourse KW - agency KW - international KW - drug control Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045381719000388 SN - 2045-3817 SN - 2045-3825 VL - 9 IS - 2 SP - 290 EP - 317 PB - Cambridge University Press CY - Cambridge ER -