In recent years, a group known as “Incels” has caught the public eye. The group consists ofmen who believe themselves to be in “involuntary celibacy”, without the means to ever finda sexual or romantic partner. The community is predominantly based online, organized innetworks and forums, where a worldview consisting of anti-feminism, sexual determinismand a hatred of modern society thrives. But why is the community successful, and how doesso many men end up on the forums? In this thesis, the mechanisms of the incel-forum areexamined by conducting a netnography on one of the larges incel-forums, incels.is, andevaluate the findings through a sociological lens. With this perspective, it is possible tounderstand incels as a societal phenomenon rather than something unique andindividualistic; because even though incels are unusual in their extreme rhetoric and actions,the mechanisms that influence them are not. By understanding incels within the specificcontext of love and sex in modernity, where romantic and sexual relationships have becomean important source for a sense of self-worth and romance and sexuality is in a state ofanomie, the level of misery expressed by members of the group becomes understandable.To combat this misery the power of groups becomes evident, where the expressions ofcontrol, status within the group, establishing group borders and creating a sense ofbelonging all contribute to protecting and strengthening the community. For incels, theforum becomes a place where meaning is created. In a state of anomie, incels reject societyand turn to retreatism, where the group becomes the place where they create their own setof strict rules and morals for the members of the community to follow.

The term incel refers mostly to white heterosexual men who live in involuntary celibate.Sweden is estimated to have one of the most frequent number of incels per capita in the world which has led the Swedish government to raise the anti-terror preparedness, as incels are considered a security risk. The aim of this study is to, with help of gender and exclusion theories, develop a deeper understanding of what this type of exclusion may result in and how new types of groups are created out of societal exclusion. To answer this, a discourse analysis of two threads on the Swedish forum Flashback was made and the chosen threads were designed so incels themselves could discuss their opinions and experiences. Previous research shows that societal exclusion results in health problems, hatred and distancing from women, which motivates the need for this study. The results showed that incels maintain bad boys as the hegemonic masculinity through legitimizing it themselves and that incels can be seen as a separate type of masculinity. Incel, as masculinity, is based and dependent on men experiencing exclusion from society and the sexual market. In order to be included in the community and be allowed to call oneself an incel, the individual must be recognized by an already legitimate incel. If the individual does not meet the criteria for being an incel, he is quickly rejected and discredited by the incel community. / Begreppet incel syftar till största del på vita heterosexuella män som lever i ofrivilligt celibat. Sverige uppskattas vara ett utav det inceltätaste länderna i världen, och den svenska staten har höjt den nationella anti terrorberedskapen då incels anses vara en säkerhetsrisk. Studiens syfte är att med hjälp av genus- och exkluderingsteorier skapa en djupare förståelse för vad denna typ av utanförskap kan leda till och hur nya grupper skapas ur samhällelig exkludering. För att besvara detta utfördes en diskursanalys över två trådar i det svenska forumet Flashback där de utvalda trådarna var formade efter att incels själva kunde diskutera sina upplevelser och åsikter. Tidigare forskning har påvisat hur detta utanförskap leder till hälsoproblem, hat och distansering från kvinnor vilket motiverar till varför studien har genomförts. Resultatet visade att incels upprätthåller den hegemoniska maskuliniteten genom att själva legitimera den samt att incels kan ses som en egen typ av maskulinitet. Incel som maskulinitet bygger på och är beroende av att männen upplever en exkludering från samhället och den sexuella marknaden. För att få vara med i gemenskapen och få kalla sig som incel måste individen bli erkänd av en redan legitimerad incel, om individen inte når upp till kriterierna för att vara incel blir den snabbt avvisad och misskrediterad av incels som gemenskap.

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The work ethic has been a popular topic for public comment and for research in the social sciences. The work ethic is usually understood to embody the values, beliefs and principles an individual has in relation to work. Work is an important dimension of human experience. Governments and employers are particularly interested in increasing productivity and competitiveness in connection with work and the work ethic is perceived as an important catalyst in achieving these goals. The main point of reference for discussion about the work ethic in the past century has been Max Weber's Protestant ethic thesis. Weber's thesis has attracted much criticism over the years and contemporary writers have suggested that alternative conceptions of the work ethic do exist. Despite widespread agreement that this is the case, consensus has not yet been reached on how such conceptions should be defined or how they may manifest in an individual. The majority of research on the work ethic has been limited to the collection of quantitative data using one of several survey instruments that are available. Fewer studies have collected data on the work ethic using a qualitative approach and yet, this is exactly what is required to achieve progress in identifying the range of conceptions that may exist. This study occurs in the context of teacher education and the work ethic has relevance to teachers and teacher educators for several reasons. Teachers, through the explicit and hidden curriculum they provide, have some responsibility for inculcating a work ethic in their students. It follows that it is important to understand the work ethic of teachers on this basis alone. A most logical starting place for accomplishing this task is during their career preparation. This study advocates explicit examination of preservice teachers' conceptions of the work ethic and exploration of how this might affect their career and curriculum decision making processes. This research is primarily intended to inform teacher educators who wish to pay attention to these things in their programs, along with researchers from other disciplines who are interested in the work ethic. Inspired by a pragmatic philosophy, this study utilised a mixed method research design to investigate the conceptions of the work ethic held by a group of preservice teachers studying in Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. Priority was given to the first phase of the research, which was to identify the qualitative conceptions of the work ethic held by the preservice teachers. The second quantitative phase was intended to complement and expand those findings by demonstrating that an established instrument in the measurement of work ethic could be used to profile conceptions of the work ethic held by an individual. The first phase of the research adopted a phenomenographic approach to identify nine conceptions of the work ethic held by a group of 22 preservice teachers. A courtship metaphor was used to characterise each of the nine conceptions which were labelled as Honeymoon, Monogamist, Serial Monogamist, Arranged Marriage, Celibate, Obsession, One-night Stand, Hedonist and Polyamorist. The second phase of the research used quantitative techniques involving factor analysis and linear modelling to link anonymous responses from 411 preservice teachers to the Occupational Work Ethic Inventory (OWEI) with the nine conceptions identified in the first phase of the research. It was found that the OWEI could be used to profile an individual's orientation to the work ethic conceptions that were defined. This research responded to calls in the literature for a better understanding of the characteristics of the people who choose to become teachers. It also suggested ways in which teacher education could be improved to prepare preservice teachers better through socialisation practices and the university curriculum. This study confirms that there are qualitatively different conceptions of the work ethic that may provide an alternative to the traditional Weberian conception. A technique is proposed to associate OWEI responses with the model of nine work ethic conceptions. Suggestions are also made with respect to potential improvement of the OWEI.