Is there a recipe for radicalization?

[ywk]

[Oogaoogabooga]

There is no single recipe, but historically:
People are more likely to become more radical (at least in regards to what they are willing to do to push something forward) if they are bored and not distracted by other things such as media stories, religion, jobs, entertainment shows. Granted they may have all of these things but they don't leave them satisfied. As a result a public that is increasingly skeptical towards religion or that is withdrawing from the mainstream media (taking a "yea, we've heard it all before" attitude) can be a factor.
People are more likely to become more radical if their standard of living or the standard of living of others they notice in their everyday lives or in the media (either because of empathy or because they are afraid that they will be the next people to experience declining standards of living) has taken a major turn for the worse and there is little if any trusted reassurance that it will get better.
If there is a major war that the nation is doing poorly in, especially if soldiers and veterans are denouncing the war. Most successful revolutions in history involve widespread defection in the armed services to the rebel cause.

All of the above were factors in Russia's Revolution (not too sure about the "boredom" aspect, although there was increasing religious skepticism in Russia). In fact one part of the initial state machinery before it became more of a dictatorship were Workers & Soldiers' Soviets. Soviets were local, democratic councils that sent representatives to higher and higher Soviets all the way up to the Supreme Soviet. They became a rubberstamp later on when the Communist Party asserted its dominance.

And of course if someone experiences something close to home or with family or friends they are likely to radicalize. For example, Lenin's brother was executed by the Tsarist government.

Another factor is whether or not people believe it's likely for them to succeed. Social scientists who have studied the Iranian Revolution note that the social factors in place up to the later part of the movement would normally mean failure, but because people had a distorted image of how well the revolution was going they were more encouraged to find it worth their time and energy to put into helping it and as a result it succeeded.