Are there any theories of demonization (is there a word used by scholars)? An initially banal dislike of a specific outgroup snowballing into an all-consuming fear/hate of it?
Extremist groups seem to self-define wrt another extremist group, not the mediocre middle.
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Not sure if this is what you're looking for but there was this popular theory by Sunstein (referenced in Thinking, Fast and Slow) on why groups evolve to become more extreme in their orientation.
yalelawjournal.org/pdf/449_3p1xtb
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