Pathways of Negotiated Radicalization: Evidence from Mass Mobilizations in Hong Kong and Chile

Research on tactical radicalization in mass protests has predominantly focused on how violent flanks initiate and escalate violence. Limited attention has been paid to the interactions between the nonviolent movement and their violent counterparts that underpin the radicalization process. Through a comparative analysis of Hong Kong’s Anti-Extradition Movement and Chile’s Estallido Social, this article introduces the concept of ‘negotiated radicalization’ to illuminate how these interactions influence movement trajectories. Analysis reveals two pathways of negotiated radicalization through which nonviolent movements and violent flanks collectively shape the tactical landscape. In Hong Kong, escalating repression combined with the absence of meaningful concessions produced an incremental pathway of radicalization. During this process, nonviolent demonstrators gradually endorsed limited violence while simultaneously developing norms to regulate its application. In Chile, severe early repression triggered a maximalist pathway of radicalization, characterized by the rapid emergence of a violent flank that aimed to shield peaceful protesters and create protected spaces for nonviolent demonstration. This trajectory evolved through spontaneous street-level coordination, with moderates providing symbolic endorsement rather than direct facilitation. Using process tracing and drawing on diverse data sources from both cases, the paper identifies the conditions and mechanisms driving these interaction patterns. Findings advance understandings of tactical radicalization, challenging conventional accounts that treat radicalization as a unidirectional process driven solely by violent actors.