‘A global political awakening’: how gen Z protests are sweeping the world

In Brazil, they rallied online by the millions, sharing videos and spreading memes. In Serbia, they cycled across Europe and ran ultramarathons to make their voices heard.

Both movements burst into international public view last month as they became central during election campaigns to the pushback against authoritarianism. What they also offered, however, was a window into a wider phenomenon playing out across the globe, as youth-led movements reshape political landscapes.

“Gen Z is rising,” said Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist at Harvard Kennedy School. “It is abundantly clear that a significant proportion of gen Z is tired of sitting on the sidelines while their political systems fail them.”