The past year has been one of global conflict. Amidst the prolonged humanitarian crises in places such as Sudan and Gaza, and the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine, youth-led uprisings erupted, dissenting against inequality and corruption in over 11 countries. Nepal, Madagascar, Morocco, Peru, and Indonesia witnessed thousands of Gen-Z protestors challenge their respective regimes in the streets. Similar demands have continued into 2026, where countries such as Iran and Tanzania are still experiencing mass civilian uprisings with strong Gen-Z involvement and violent government crackdowns.
At the core of all these uprisings are the same civilian grievances pointing to increasing rates of economic inequality, corruption, and democratic backsliding worldwide. While the Gen-Z and Millennial generations have been championed in recent years for forging critical political change worldwide, their attitudes towards democratic elections and elites are growing increasingly ambivalent.
The 2025 Gen-Z protests
Across the countries that witnessed protests, youth unemployment rates have remained high and the economies weak. Gen-Z protesters targeted these specific grievances, and were vocal about their frustrations towards corrupt elites, as Erica Chenoweth and Matthew Cebul find.
Shared messaging and imagery across protests and online spaces underscored a degree of unity among youth-led demonstrations worldwide. Skull and crossbone symbols from ‘One Piece’, a popular Japanese manga, first originated in the Philippines during their wave of Gen-Z protests — symbolizing the fight against injustice and corruption. The pop-culture reference was then integrated into protests worldwide including Nepal, Serbia, Kenya, Morocco, Indonesia, Madagascar, among many others. Through this shared imagery of virtue, young people articulated a clear and unified message when facing their own governments in the streets.
Many regimes responded to peaceful civilian demonstrations with disproportionate levels of violence at the hands of national security forces. Presently, indiscriminate lethal state violence against civilians continues in Iran, with as many as 30,000 people being reported killed after protests broke out in late December. Tanzania is still reeling from their violent election day in October, where over 700 civilians were killed during youth-led protests against corruption. In Nepal, 76 people were estimated to be killed by security forces during protests that ultimately overthrew the government in September. In Kenya, youth-led anti-government marches were met with heavily armed police who fired upon the crowds, leaving at least 31 people dead this past July. After Eduardo Ruiz, a famous Peruvian rapper, was killed by a police officer in Lima, youth-led protests erupted across Peru in October. During these protests, approximately 18 people were killed and over 100 people reported wounded due to violent police crackdowns.
In the face of deep-seated discontent, it is evident that the Gen-Z generation is more disposed to challenging their governments despite such grave costs. These violent responses seem to illustrate that protests all across the world are pinching the nerves of the autocrats they are directed at. And though Gen-Z has made their demands clear throughout the bloodshed, it is less clear how the political situations will unfold in the aftermath.
Similar origins but ambiguous directions
While Gen-Z’s protests were not explicitly or primarily focused on democracy, the demand for greater equity and accountability still speaks to complex changes on the international stage. There is some degree of unity across the world. The IPSOS Populism Report for 2025 finds, for instance, that 68 percent of all global respondents feel that the economy is rigged for elite wealth. Coupled with findings that suggest economic insecurity explains about “one-third of recent surges in populism” worldwide, it is clear that both the heightened youth unrest and global rise in populism are indeed originating from the same source.
Gen-Z’s demands for fairer economic futures are intertwined with their growing global skepticism towards democratic elites. Surveys from both IPSOS and the Friedrich-Naumann Foundation for Freedom find that populist parties continue to surge globally, with Gen-Z voters contributing to their electoral success. Democratic mistrust among youth is especially heightening across Europe, with ultra-right parties seeing significant gains in Germany and France thanks to young voters. Thus, while Gen-Z protests inspire hope for a better political alternative, they do not inherently pave a path to democratic advancement.
The picture becomes more complicated, however, when you consider that, as Democracy Without Borders recently found, young people (ages 18-35) are among the most supportive age groups for establishing a world parliament. With net support ranging at 19 percentage points for the youngest age group, compared to only 0.5 percentage points for the oldest, youth represent a distinctly supportive cohort in forging a world parliamentary system. For some young people, innovative global governance systems like a world parliament may be seen to promote a hopeful way forward.
What lies in the future?
It is difficult to foresee what the immediate political future will actually look like. As interim administrations in countries like Bangladesh and Nepal determine their political leadership through national elections, young people’s futures and democratic representation still hangs in an uncertain balance. In their first elections since the aftermath of a student-led revolution in 2024, Bangladesh saw a historic win by the Bangladeshi Nationalist Party (BNP) in February. However, the election was vehemently contested by an 11-party alliance formed by the students leaders. In Nepal, citizens will head to the polls in March to vote in their new government, as coalition groups are working to appeal to young voters to fill the power vacuum.
Today the question remains not whether young people can mobilize, but whether political systems can absorb their demands amidst democratic regression and populist fervor. While united in their struggle against inequality and repression, these youth-led social uprisings do not point to a single ideological direction, nor do they guarantee democratic progress or renewal. In the speculation of what may come in the aftermaths, one surety remains: across many countries, the elite status quo is reaching its boiling point.
