Radicalization involves the development of extremist or uncompromising behavior.
The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) does not recognize the term radicalization , although its use is common in our language. The dictionary does accept the idea of radicalizing , which consists of making a position, a way, an attitude or a behavior become more radical .
At this point, it must be said that one of the meanings of radical refers to that which is intransigent or extremist . Therefore, the radicalization of a person or a movement would be the process that leads to greater intransigence or fanaticism .
Concept of radicalization
As an individual or group becomes more radicalized, dialogue or the chances of reaching an agreement diminish . A radicalized person will only be interested in imposing his or her ideas , without caring about the consequences or accepting dissent.
For example: “I am concerned about the radicalization of these young people who do not obey the orders of any authority” , “The radicalization of the political party ended up turning it into a guerrilla group” , “I am not going to accept the radicalization of the struggle, but quite the opposite: I intend for us to find common ground to resolve conflicts in peace ” .
As radicalization progresses, violence often follows.
An example
Let's suppose that a group of students is not satisfied with the current conditions for studying at a university . As a first step, they submit a petition to the authorities to ask for certain changes. In the absence of a response, the students decide to hold a protest at the university gate, with banners and flags.
Without reaching an agreement with the authorities, the radicalization of the movement does not stop. Instead, they decide to block the street, take over the university and prevent classes from being held until their demands are met.
Radicalization and dialogue
One of the risks of radicalizing a group of people is that the opposite group responds with the same strategy; in other words, when there is a radical position on both sides, the chances of finding a solution are considerably reduced. Unfortunately, in matters of social interest, which involve the masses, it is very difficult to avoid this phenomenon, since ideals quickly take a backseat to give way to political and economic interests .
Unlike a dispute between two people, when large parts of society confront each other, they do not normally meet in an open space and discuss patiently and with a desire to reach an agreement. Instead, third parties intervene to control them in order to satisfy their own desire for power . To do this, they offer them the means and channels for debate, even though they are not really concerned about the issues raised, but rather seek to manipulate them through these favors.
The advance of hate
Radicalization is related to many other negative phenomena, such as hatred and discrimination, in that it arises from a lack of understanding and grows out of control, like a monster that acquires colossal size and destroys everything in its path without knowing why, without knowing its origin and its destination . Given the intervention of the aforementioned external factors, an extreme position can be maintained despite having lost its meaning, but it is not easy to dissolve it, since intertwined interests do not allow it.
If we look at recent human history, what better example of radicalisation can we find than Nazism, as difficult as it may seem to use this term in the same sentence as “best”. Precisely, this disastrous period, which gave rise to the greatest crime committed by humanity, represents a real challenge for anyone trying to understand the behaviour of our species and forces us to contemplate a twisted and distorted view of human rights and the foundations of democracy.