Gen Z Protests Are Going Global and Toppling Governments

Do you remember the kids of Generation Z? Did you know – that notorious group of entitled, lazy and apathetic people who love to make fun of the baby boomers?

Over the past two years, members of Generation Z across Asia, Africa and Latin America have taken to the streets, secretly organizing revolutions and overthrowing entrenched rulers. A good number of participants in the uprisings paid with their lives, which is another indication that these events deserve to be taken seriously. On October 14, Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina was ousted after weeks of protests and replaced by a military government, underscoring the new strength of young, sometimes violent, protesters demanding change.

Do you remember the kids of Generation Z? Did you know – that notorious group of entitled, lazy and apathetic people who love to make fun of the baby boomers?

Over the past two years, members of Generation Z across Asia, Africa and Latin America have taken to the streets, secretly organizing revolutions and overthrowing entrenched rulers. A fair number of participants in the uprising They paid with their lives– Another indication that these events deserve to be taken seriously. On October 14, President of Madagascar Andry Rajoelina He was ousted after weeks of protests It was replaced by a military government, highlighting the new power of young, sometimes violent, protesters demanding change.

Some observers may dismiss this new wave of activism as irrelevant to the future of established democracies. But such complacency may be unwise. If this new revolutionary movement has proven anything, it is that no one should underestimate its contagion.

In 2022 and 2024 respectively, youth-led uprisings toppled the leaders of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, two countries with a combined population of about 200 million. This year has witnessed similar unrest Indonesia (284 million). Filipino (116 million), Kenya (56 million), Morocco (38 million), Nepal (30 million), Madagascar (32 million), and Peru (34 million). This adds up to about 790 million people, a fair portion of the world’s population and enough to make this the largest wave of rebellion in human history. Madagascar is not the only country where its leaders have fallen; Nepal and Peru also got rid of their rulers. Meanwhile, Ecuador, recently inspired by unrest in neighboring Peru, Still working through Its own chaotic version of Generation Z turmoil.

But do we really have the right to group all these cases together? Any astute observer would admit that labels like “Generation Z” often obscure more than they reveal. After all, we live in an era where political polarization, driven at least in part by the ubiquity of social media, has opened fault lines even between people of the same age. In the United States, Western Europe, and South Korea, sociologists have discovered that men and women are increasingly equal far apart in their political preferences, so one must be careful when lumping very diverse groups of people into a single political category.

Similar caveats apply to comparing social movements across national borders. Protests in Ecuador It was caused by cuts In support of diesel fuel. In Morocco, it was the government decision Spending billions On a football field and related infrastructure amid the apparent deterioration of the national health system that has pushed people onto the streets. And in Nepal there is unrest rose When the government tried to ban major social media platforms — in some cases, the same ones that had caused public outrage with their coverage of so-called “Nibo kids,” children of the elite whose lavish lifestyles starkly contrasted with those of the disenfranchised majority. Some countries affected by Generation Z unrest are poor (Like Madagascar); Others are within walking distance of high-income status (Like Indonesia).

However, there is still some noticeable continuity. Twentysomethings have played a prominent role in all of these countries, representing thriving groups of young people who saw their own opportunities for advancement stymied by greedy elites. These generational commonalities have translated into some tactical borrowings across national borders. One of the most interesting is Use discorda social media platform widely used by gamers — but largely ignored by the older generation — as a way to organize protests even as governments have tried to crack down on other forms of online communication. In September, protesters in Nepal used Discord. To sort the candidates To replace the ousted Prime Minister. Online voting on the ultimate platform to choose Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Sushila Karki was appointed interim Prime Minister and has been running the country ever since.

The demonstrators He admitted it publicly Their contemporaries in other countries as sources inspirationIt is evidence of the ease and speed with which news and information can flow despite the efforts of the authorities to maintain control.

In fact, Gen Z protesters have been keen to put their own stamp on the uprisings By citing a popular culture reference Now shared by fans from Lima to Kathmandu: Japanese anime one piece. The series’ hero is Monkey D. Luffy, the leader of the Straw Hat Pirates, a group of social misfits fighting a brutal global oligarchy. Their flag – which consists of a skull and crossbones topped with a straw hat – appears to have appeared at most recent youth-led protests. At some point during the protests there, authorities in Indonesia Announce Showing the photo was tantamount to treason.

But there’s actually a semi-serious point behind this absurdity: just like the Luffy Pirates, today’s Generation Z sees themselves as opponents of anyone who could be considered part of the existing order – including even those political parties that claim to be critical of the powers that be. Most protesters have deliberately refused to ally themselves with established opposition leaders, choosing instead to emphasize “Leaderless“The quality of their movements. The Aragalaya movement in Sri Lanka clearly defined this pattern advertisement This in itself was a “non-partisan” reaction to the increasingly harsh rule of the Rajapaksa clan. Subsequent Generation Z protesters have largely followed suit.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about countries taken over by Generation Z protest is that they are not. None of them can be considered outright authoritarian regimes (with the possible exception of Bangladesh under ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has increasingly become Dictatorship During her 15-year rule. The overwhelming majority of these countries are democracies – often illiberal, corrupt, or grossly unequal, yet still retaining many democratic institutions. No matter how apolitical some protesters claim to be, most want to see their grievances—nepotism, government mismanagement, inequality, and lack of economic opportunity—addressed through a renewal of those democratic institutions rather than a wholesale rejection of them. This puts them in stark contrast to, for example, revolutions The so-called Arab Spring Beginning in late 2010, which occurred almost entirely in authoritarian states with little tradition of democratic governance.

In this sense, the Gen Z wave of the 2020s should inspire a certain degree of optimism. The younger generation is demanding change, and doing so in ways that reveal an underlying belief in the possibility of reform. But what will happen if, as appears to be the case, the revolutions they demand do not achieve the desired results? It is happeningFor example in Sri Lanka? The same doubts that shape their rejection of politics as usual can also be a handicap when they have to make difficult practical choices in the future. We have already seen that social media-driven protests are sometimes not enough to build the new political organizations needed to bring about real change. Cynicism and stagnation can easily result.

Neither Americans nor Europeans have much reason to feel complacent. Evidence suggests that many Gen Zers in the West They also feel politically displacedNot represented by existing parties and institutions, Deprived of the same opportunities For the economic advancement their parents once enjoyed. It will be interesting to see what lessons they draw from their contemporaries around the world.