Do we need dark emotional energy? A comment on “ Rituals of Resentment”

Abstract

Kallio and Törnberg argue that incel communities generate a distinctive form of dark emotional energy through interaction rituals organized around shared negativity and suffering. This comment acknowledges the importance of their analysis of solidarity premised around negative feelings but questions whether the observed dynamics require a theoretical mechanism distinct from Collins’ concept of emotional energy. Rather than demonstrating a new form of emotional energy, the article may be better understood as identifying a novel empirical configuration of interaction rituals.