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Boys to men: the violent teenagers of the radical right

The emphasis on white men has obscured the real, and increasing, threat from white boys.

Boys to men: the violent teenagers of the radical right
Seized weapons and objects from right-wing extremist organizations, in Stolberg, near Aachen, Germany. 23 August 2012 | Picture by: Henning Kaiser/DPA/PA Images. All rights reserved
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This article is part of a debate on Countering the Radical Right inviting people to answer the question: “should we be worried about white men?

"How wonderful it is to be an amoral individual." These words, scrawled amidst plans for violence, were found in the journal of a British neo-Nazi convicted of plotting a terror attack. They were also the words of a 16-year old boy. The perpetration of brutal terror attacks by white men has sparked global concern about the susceptibility of this demographic to radicalisation and the threat they pose to society. However, this emphasis on white men has obscured the real, and increasing, threat from white boys.