[4] Cole argues that part of the source of this tension in the United States is the conflict between the idea of victimhood and the dominant American political culture: because liberal individualism is a fundamental virtue in American political identity, the notion of claiming to be a victim can be cast as pathetic and undeserving.
[5] Cole focuses on how "anti-victimist" figures like Charles Sykes, Robert Hughes, Shelby Steele, Alan Dershowitz and Dinesh D'Souza have used anti-victimhood rhetoric to undermine the credibility of those claiming to be victims of an unjust political system, which in turn positions those figures as victims of other peoples' professed victimhood.
[6] She also studies the implications of these rhetorical tools to policies including civil and criminal justice reform and the extent of the welfare state.
[8][9] Together with George Shulman, Cole co-edited the 2019 book Michael Paul Rogin: Derangement and Liberalism.
[10] Cole has published on topics like victimhood and vulnerability in news publications like Salon[11] and Fortune,[12] and her work has been covered in outlets like the BBC[13] and Truthout.