The same societal impulses that drive angry white men to right-wing hate groups also push their Muslim counterparts toward violent jihadist movements, according to a sociologist who has studied the corrosive effects of masculinity.
“These are guys that really think that they don’t matter in the world and have been tossed aside,” Kimmel said, evoking Trump’s repeated appeals to the “forgotten man.”
He cited the work of researcher James Gilligan, who argued that shame and humiliation drive nearly all violence in the world.
“In my interviews with extremists, both ‘actives’ and ‘formers,’ I have found time and time again that they have experienced that sense of humiliation and shame,”
Those motivations work for both Islamic extremists who hate the West and the white men who encourage violence against Muslims, he said.
“In his famous statement, Osama bin Laden talked about how the West had humiliated the Muslim world … that conservative Muslims have been humiliated by hyper-modern society and the cosmopolitan McDonaldization of the world,” Kimmel added. “For them, restoring the seventh-century caliphate is their way of reinstating traditional masculinity.”
Kimmel calls this “aggrieved entitlement.”
“If you feel entitled and you have not gotten what you expected, that is a recipe for humiliation,” he said.
“These are guys that really think that they don’t matter in the world and have been tossed aside,” Kimmel said, evoking Trump’s repeated appeals to the “forgotten man.”
He cited the work of researcher James Gilligan, who argued that shame and humiliation drive nearly all violence in the world.
“In my interviews with extremists, both ‘actives’ and ‘formers,’ I have found time and time again that they have experienced that sense of humiliation and shame,”
Those motivations work for both Islamic extremists who hate the West and the white men who encourage violence against Muslims, he said.
“In his famous statement, Osama bin Laden talked about how the West had humiliated the Muslim world … that conservative Muslims have been humiliated by hyper-modern society and the cosmopolitan McDonaldization of the world,” Kimmel added. “For them, restoring the seventh-century caliphate is their way of reinstating traditional masculinity.”
Kimmel calls this “aggrieved entitlement.”
“If you feel entitled and you have not gotten what you expected, that is a recipe for humiliation,” he said.
