Protests have erupted across multiple countries in recent months, with younger generations leading movements against government corruption.
In France, the “Block Everything” protest occurred in multiple cities, including Paris, Lyon, Lille and Marseille.
The protests began after Francois Bayrou resigned as prime minister, being replaced by Sebastien Lecornu, whose selection incited further anger amongst the already angry population.
The anti-government protests’ goal of total national disruption ultimately failed, but had a large attendance of 200,000-250,000 protesters.
“I think it’s so unstable for them and they are really looking for stability, and the president is not giving that to them and they want to be heard,” said Emma Pardon, a junior who majors in communications and is a French native.
The French protests turned violent as protestors clashed with police, unintentionally hurting fellow protesters and journalists. Police responded by deploying stun grenades and tear gas. Approximately 300 protesters were arrested.
“It does worry me. It hadn’t before, but this time it was much more violent than it used to be,” said Pardon.
“I don’t know many people who wouldn’t be concerned by the global state of the world. I think we are building and building until something big happens,” said Maisie Vanslander, a junior who is majoring in English.
The global protest wave began in late August in Indonesia. Students and union members began rallying after the government granted 50 million Rupiah per month (roughly $3000) to lawmakers for housing, which is more than 10 times the average national monthly minimum wage.
The protests took an unexpected and dangerous turn after a delivery driver was killed during police pushback. Protesters began torching vehicles and government buildings. In all, 10 people died.
Dr. Debra Leiter, an associate professor with the Department of Political Science and Philosophy, thinks these violent protests are a result of a combination of reasons.
“Combine a potential growing sense of corruption with an actual and true growing inequity, and people are going to be frustrated. They’re going to take that frustration on the streets because they don’t believe the government will respond otherwise,” said Leiter.
Similar scenes unfolded in Mexico City, Mexico. Demonstrators gathered to fight for justice for 43 students who had disappeared in 2014. They are believed to have been killed by members of the cartel with ties to government officials.
Protesters rammed the gates of a military base and set fire to trucks. No deaths were reported.
In Nepal, Gen Z protesters demonstrated on Sept. 4 against a nationwide social media ban, nepotism and political corruption. Government buildings were torched, including the Nepalese Parliament building.
These protests were met with lethal force. According to The Kathmandu Post, police killed at least 19 protesters and injured over 300 more.
In Antananarivo, Madagascar protesters were also met with police retaliation. The youth majority gathered in late September at the nation’s capital for an anti-government protest to condemn the consistent water and electricity outages.
The rise in protests around the world marks a trend amongst today’s youth.
“Young people are having very challenging economic circumstances all across the globe. One thing we do see is a rise in polarization and in distrust,” said Leiter.
However, protests led by younger generations are less common in the United States.
“That’s just because of the established infrastructure, the exorbitant spending in defense that also gets used on citizens here in the United States, like back in the Black Lives Matter protests and when things did start to get violent in cities. The way the US responded to that was with violence. I think it deters a lot of more inflated protests,” said Vanslander.
Youth-involved protests are often facilitated and grown through the use of social media.
“Protesters learn from each other. Young people are exceptionally effective at being connected online. We are seeing either actual shared information or just inspiration coming from seeing these protestors online. That online connection actually helps them to coordinate,” said Leiter.
“We’re in a major protest moment internationally,” said Leiter, noting that more demonstrations are likely as the year continues.
