{"id":4573,"date":"2025-11-06T20:14:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T18:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/?page_id=4573"},"modified":"2026-01-13T00:21:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T22:21:59","slug":"working-group-2-the-entanglement-of-gen-z-democracy-and-geopolitics-in-the-global-south","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/working-groups\/working-group-2-the-entanglement-of-gen-z-democracy-and-geopolitics-in-the-global-south","title":{"rendered":"Working Group  2: The Entanglement of Gen Z, Democracy and Geopolitics in the Global South"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Coordinators: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tiina Sepp\u00e4l\u00e4\u00a0<em>(University of Helsinki)<\/em> &#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:tiina.s.seppala@helsinki.fi\">tiina.s.seppala@helsinki.fi <\/a><\/li>\n<li>Manoj Bhusal <em>(University of Helsinki)<\/em> &#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:manoj.bhusal@helsinki.fi\">manoj.bhusal@helsinki.fi<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Youth-led movements have gained significant momentum worldwide in recent years,<br \/>\nparticularly in the Global South. This Gen Z activism has been especially pronounced in South<br \/>\nand Southeast Asia \u2013 including Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines and Bangladesh \u2013<br \/>\nwhere \u2018youthquakes\u2019 have challenged entrenched patronage, corruption and<br \/>\nauthoritarianism, and in some instances even contributed to government turnover and<br \/>\nregime change. These movements appear to produce cross-border diffusion through shared<br \/>\nrepertoires, digital networks and transnational solidarities. At the same time, they face<br \/>\nsubstantial constraints, including coercive state responses, socio-economic precarity,<br \/>\npolitical polarisation and organisational fragmentation. These dynamics raise critical<br \/>\nquestions about the internal composition, strategic choices and democratic impacts of Gen Z<br \/>\nactivism, as well as its broader geopolitical implications in the Global South.<\/p>\n<p>In our working group, we seek to synthesise theoretical and empirical scholarship on Gen Z<br \/>\nmovements, with a primary focus on the Global South and comparative insights from the<br \/>\nGlobal North. We invite contributions that critically interrogate the following themes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Conceptualization and measurement: How do Gen Z movements define \u2018democracy\u2019, and how do their normative frames translate into concrete demands (anti-corruption, civil liberties, social justice, institutional reform)? What indicators can be used to assess their effectiveness, legitimacy and long-term political impact? How do movements themselves evaluate successes and failures, and what organisational learning occurs across cases?<\/li>\n<li>Comparative dynamics: What convergences and divergences exist across movements in organisational structure, leadership, digital mobilisation, resource environments and tactical repertoires? How do movements in the Global South differ from those in the North with respect to context, constraints and outcomes?<\/li>\n<li>Strategy and outcomes: Which strategies (street protest, electoral engagement, legal advocacy, coalition-building, transnational networking) are associated with durable democratic gains versus short-lived mobilisation? Under what conditions do Gen Z movements catalyse institutional change, and what mechanisms (agenda-setting, elite splits, international pressure) mediate these effects?<\/li>\n<li>Governance and repression: How do states respond (legal restrictions, policing, physical violence, disinformation, co-optation), and how do movements adapt? What roles do socio-economic inequalities, labour market conditions and educational access play in shaping participation and organisational capacity?<\/li>\n<li>Geopolitical and transnational dimensions: Through what pathways do ideas, tactics and narratives diffuse across borders (diasporas, platforms, NGOs), and with what consequences for regional politics? Do Gen Z movements challenge existing global power structures, and how do states and international actors (IOs, donors, platforms, media) enable or constrain their trajectories?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Accepted presentations<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Gen Z revolt 2025 and the future of democratic renewal in Nepal<\/em> (Saroj Koirala, Shobhana Sharma, Shrwan Kumar Khanal &amp; Ishub Khatiwada)<\/li>\n<li><em>A Variegated Convergence? Indonesian Progressives and Mass Politics in Comparative Asian Perspective<\/em> (Iqra Anugrah)<\/li>\n<li><em>Rethinking Youth-led (Gen Z) Movements and Democratic Governance in Nigeria: Pathway to Inclusive Development<\/em> (Oluwasegun Ogunsakin)<\/li>\n<li><em>Recasting Democratic Imaginaries: Gen Z Mobilisation, Digital Practices, and Organisational Learning within India\u2019s Educational Spaces<\/em> (Pallabi Gogoi)<\/li>\n<li><em>Popular Culture, Gender and Gen Z Mobilisations in South Asia<\/em> (Tiina Sepp\u00e4l\u00e4 &amp; Yanjin Zhu)<\/li>\n<li><em>The Paradox of Extractive Growth: Gen-Z&#8217;s Structural Revolt Against Neoliberal Accumulation in the Global South<\/em> (Manoj Bhusal)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Registration is now open from 12 January to 15 February 2026.\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\nThe detailed timetable will be published later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Coordinators: Tiina Sepp\u00e4l\u00e4\u00a0(University of Helsinki) &#8211;\u00a0tiina.s.seppala@helsinki.fi Manoj Bhusal (University of Helsinki) &#8211;\u00a0manoj.bhusal@helsinki.fi Youth-led movements have gained significant momentum worldwide in recent years, particularly in the Global South. This Gen Z activism has been especially pronounced in South and Southeast Asia \u2013 including Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines and Bangladesh \u2013 where \u2018youthquakes\u2019 have challenged [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"parent":3437,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4573"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4573"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4840,"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4573\/revisions\/4840"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}