The phenomenon of young people driving consequential political change is not new. During the Arab Spring in 2011 and 2012, many large-scale demonstrations were led or at least widely participated in by youth. More recently, young voters helped unseat the party that had governed Botswana since independence and caused the vote share of South Africa’s African National Congress party to fall below 50 percent for the first time since the end of apartheid. Youth protesters in Bangladesh, too, ousted the government of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in July 2024. Even against this backdrop, however, the global scale and impact of the Gen Z protests in the past year is unprecedented.
Gen Z protests have spread to seven countries. What do they all have in common? – Atlantic Council
