An Interpretive Account of Individual, Nonviolent Radicalization

While recent research has focused on radicalization mainly in relation to religiously inspired terrorism, we suggest that radicalization is not intrinsically tied to political violence or group recruitment. Drawing on qualitative research conducted in Italy, we analyze two case studies—one religious and one secular—of individual, nonviolent radicalization bearing on personal choices of lifestyle and ethics. We rely on 33 interviews with Catholic hermits and 22 with antispeciesists—a radical fringe of the animal rights movement—to provide an interpretive account of the lived experience of radicalization. The findings suggest that from a subjective viewpoint, radicalization is a highly demanding choice which, however, is also perceived as empowering.