Asia's Gen Z is waking up

Inherit the world, inherit responsibility (Source: here)

Today, the Financial Times ran an article saying that Gen Z protests are spreading from Nepal to other Asian countries. If so, this makes the protests interesting far beyond Nepal and Asia; the implications could be truly global.

Gen Z refers to the generation of people born between 1997 and 2012. As I noted in a blog post earlier this year, Gen Z has every reason to be pissed off. Yet, remarkably, there has so far been very little organised protest by this generation. Nor has Gen Z managed to define a clear programme of reform.

The dearth of leadership and collective vision from Gen Z is odd, because Gen Z is better educated and better informed than any previous generation. Moreover, Gen Z looks set to inherit a truly awful future. The environment is probably the greatest concern as climate change and species-depletion proceed at furious pace. Gen Z's economic outlook is also dire as it stands to inherit enormous debts and formidable contingent liabilities (unfunded pension and healthcare liabilities associated with ageing populations). Gen Z will also be saddled with the onerous challenge of reversing Far-Right populism, which has left the global political order in total disarray.

On one hand, there are good reasons to be hopeful that the young can rise to challenge. Gen Z is a highly globalised generation on account of its cultural references, which cut across national borders. Unlike their parents, Gen Z have, through social media, grown up with exposure to contemporaries from all over the world and from many different racial backgrounds. The young are quite simply more open-minded and tolerant than any generation before them.

On the other hand, Gen Z is also a highly individualistic generation, perhaps even selfish. Is Gen Z able to organise itself effectively? Gen Z was largely absent from key elections in Western economies, which brought Far Right politicians to power and ushered in disasters such as Brexit. Why did Gen Z not participate in these elections, which so profoundly impacted their own futures?

The university protests in the United States in early 2025 provided hope that Gen Z was waking up, but the protests have since died down. So far, only a few organisations, such as the British environmental activist group ‘Just Stop Oil’ and the loose alliance of Far-Left anti-fascists known as ‘Antifa’ have been able to gain wider recognition. But there are hardly any recognisable Gen Z leaders (albeit lots of self-serving ‘influencers’). Greta Thunberg is one of the few leaders of Gen Z, who has managed to gain global recognition and lead a mass movement based on global political issues.

Here is my concern: As long as Gen Z is unable to organise itself, it will remain politically weak. And as long as Gen Z remains politically weak, its interests will be ignored. In turn, this will increase frustration among the young and could eventually – tragically – push them towards fascism.

This is why the Gen Z protests in Nepal and other parts of Asia are important. While these protests may also prove to be false starts, it is worth following developments closely. In fact, we should not be so surprised to see the first truly effective protests from the Gen Z generation emerge from Asia rather than, say, from a declining West. After all, the middle class is growing faster in Asia than anywhere else in the world – and the middle class is key to social change.

So, rise up, young Asians! The time has arrived for you to set the political agenda for a better world. Show the rest of the world the way forward!

The End