Gen Z is toppling governments. Why?

Your Saturday deep dive.

Hello everyone,

When I was young, I marched quite a bit. It’s May Day, I’m marching. War is coming in Iraq, I’m marching. Solidarity with laid-off workers, I’m marching. Someone tripped over a badly-maintained paving stone, I’m marching.

But when I got into news journalism, that burgeoning activism ended and I was devoted to the practice of “impartial” reporting, which I believed was a net social good that could contribute to progress in its own way.

When I look back on the particular protests I was involved in, though, they seem like honorable failures. We tried to raise awareness and effect change but often all we succeeded in doing was making a lot of noise. That’s not to say there weren’t also victorious protests - there were. Just that my personal experience was of being young, idealistic and thwarted.

Right now, though, there are young protesters all over the world - most of them explicitly self-branded as “Gen Z” movements - that are having remarkable success. They are pouring out their rage on the streets and forcing changes to legislation. In several countries, they are even toppling governments.

Gen Z have been making their voices heard in places such as Madagascar, Nepal, Peru, Morocco, Kenya, Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

It’s turning into quite the roll call.

So what’s going on? Is this just a disparate list of anti-government movements with their own particular concerns, or is there inspiration and contagion at play? Is there something unique about the way this generation is protesting and, if so, what is it? And could this spread to other countries?

Let’s jump into a Q&A.

Until next Saturday,

Barry.

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You said they’re having success? Give me a few examples.

Well, there was a massive one just this week when Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina was toppled after weeks of protests from Gen Z activists angry about power and water shortages, as well as years of rampant corruption. Questions linger over that one given Rajoelina was pushed out of power by the army. The protesters say they are now expecting the military to address their concerns, and then they’ll weigh where things stand.

In Peru last week, the president was impeached as young people protested against soaring crime. Last month, a Gen Z movement frustrated with corruption and the lavish lifestyles of the political elite in Nepal ousted Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli in a swift 48 hours. In Bangladesh last year, throngs of students forced President Sheikh Hasina to flee to India. In Kenya, they got the government to U-turn on a bill that would have increased taxes.

That’s just a taster.

I feel like you think they’re linked. What’s the proof of that?