This article explores how diverse violent extremist actors—jihadist, far-right, and male supremacist groups—share a common set of characteristics: ideologies espousing explicit gendered hierarchies and the imposition of extreme patriarchal political and social orders; a worldview that sees the advancement of women and gender equality as a threat; and the justification of violence as a means to rectify these wrongs and reinforce gendered hierarchies, particularly violence targeting women and institutions seen to be promoting gender equality. The authors uniquely identify extreme patriarchal visions, as well as interrelated concepts such as male supremacism and misogyny, as a thread that ties these seemingly distinct actors across different ideological, geo-political, and socio-political contexts together. Additionally, they argue that male supremacy is itself is an increasingly distinct anti-feminist ideological motivation for violence, which has received insufficient attention in scholarship and in P/CVE efforts. The evidence presented here has important implications for scholars and practitioners seeking to prevent and reduce violence in society, including making a strong case for why paying attention to anti-women and anti-feminist narratives matters.
UNOCT is grateful to the author for the donation of this resource to the GIFP library.