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“You're all a bunch of feminists:” Categorization and the politics of terror in the Montreal Massacre

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Abstract

Following Sacks's model membership categorization analysis (MCA) of a suicidal person's conclusion 'I have no one to turn to,' the paper examines in MCA terms a political actor's twin conclusions that murder-suicide is a rational course of action. The case in question is the killer's reasoning in the Montreal Massacre as revealed in his reported announcement at the scene (notably 'You're all a bunch of feminists. I hate feminists') and recovered suicide letter (for example, 'For why persevere to exist if it is only to please the government').

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Eglin, P., Hester, S. “You're all a bunch of feminists:” Categorization and the politics of terror in the Montreal Massacre. Human Studies 22, 253–272 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005444602547

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