Peru, Nepal, Indonesia, Madagascar and Morocco: the youth of these countries mobilized in 2025. Gathered under the common denominator of “Generation Z”, how can we present this movement and define the frameworks of its action?
“Generation Z” identifies, according to some researchers, those born between the late 1990s and the early 2010s. The actions of this youth, which emphasizes the generational marker, are regularly associated with the use of social networks. Indeed, it is the very first generation born with these digital tools and who grew up in parallel with this technological development. Almost instinctively, they possess a form of agility in the use of digital compared to previous generations. They are also connected by common symbols: the flag of the “One Piece” series, the nature of their demands, their range of actions, virtual or real. However, behind this generic term of “Generation Z”, national frameworks and specificities remain visible.
The mobilizations of young generations take place in various national contexts and political systems. Do they have notable common points?
In most cases observed, these are countries of the “Global South” with a long tradition of colonial and postcolonial struggles: for example, researcher Alex de Jong shows how the Nepali movement of 2025 is in line with the hopes aroused by the uprising of 1990, which transformed the country into a multi-party constitutional monarchy. However, the contemporary dynamics cannot be understood without considering a second element: the effects of imitation between these countries, which raise the question of the unity of the ongoing mobilizations. Effects of mimicry had already been observed with previous movements in the 2010s. This was the case in countries in the Maghreb region with the Arab Springs (2011-2012), in Senegal and Burkina Faso with the African Springs (2012-2014), and in Asia, in Hong Kong in 2014 and then in 2019. Other movements occurred after the Covid-19 pandemic, notably in Sri Lanka in 2022, and in Bangladesh in 2024.
If we observe the structure of all these societies, we can immediately notice that they are generally young states, in both historical and demographic senses. According to consulted estimates, each time at least a quarter of their population belongs to “Generation Z”. In Morocco in 2024, it would represent around 30% of the population (37.9 million); in Nepal, 9 million out of 30 million inhabitants; while in Madagascar, the median age is 21.3 years (2024). It is not surprising that youth mobilizations erupt in these countries.
Furthermore, urbanization and education levels are on the rise everywhere, despite significant inequalities. Indeed, the second striking feature of unity is that all these societies are characterized by very strong socio-economic and political inequalities. A part of the population is perceived as privileged, even ultra-privileged, compared to a vast majority that sometimes lacks access to essential goods and services, such as healthcare in Morocco or electricity in Madagascar.
If the political systems are similar, are the demands carried from one country to another also similar?
This is a third element of unity among all these countries: accusations of mismanagement, perceived through the lens of corruption, privileges of the elites, and a growing gap between rulers and the ruled can be found everywhere. These are movements demanding similar advancements and that all denounce material, as well as political inequalities.
The gap between the elites and the population might recall that expressed in the slogan “We are the 99%”, put forward by various movements in the early 2010s, such as the Indignados and Occupy Wall Street, as well as by Chilean student movements in favor of a new education policy, which spread to South America. This polarization reflects a double economic and political inequality. Researchers Albert Ogien and Sandra Laugier observed worldwide in 2014 the repetition of movements launched or invested in by the youth around a single slogan: democracy. In their view, this notion encompasses a wide range of demands, from the probity of the rulers to the criticism of the erosion of the representative system where it exists. According to another researcher, Angelo Montoni Rios, demanding democracy allows activists to formulate a demand to which the majority of citizens could adhere, while assuming the spontaneous, non-partisan, and mostly non-violent nature of these protests. This is why these causes, defined as “democratic” in the truest sense by Valérie Becquet, revolve around demands for real equality among citizens in the face of systems that are often formally democratic but accused of favoring certain categories of the population to the detriment of others, a trait accentuated by the neoliberalism advocated by the ruling elites.
