Von Nepal bis Marokko: Zu den neuen Gen-Z Protesten

Die Jugendproteste, die in Indonesien und Nepal begannen haben jetzt auch Madagaskar und Marokko erreicht, wo es seit langem zum ersten Mal wieder zu Massenprotesten kam. 

Kara Fox schreibt für CNN, warum diese von der so genannten Generation Z getragene Bewegung sich als eine globale versteht und was sie antreibt:

From Kathmandu to Lima, youth-led uprisings are driving thousands from their screens to the streets, demanding accountability, change and, in some cases, toppling governments.

These Gen-Z protesters come from disparate backgrounds and have different demands.

But the throughline is clear: Growing inequality and marginalization is destroying young people’s hopes for the future – and the only way forward is to confront a broken social contract head on. (…)

"Gen Z is skeptical towards liberal representative democracy, although they still value democratic principles and democratic decision making".

The protests that are now unfolding are a result of that skepticism.

The rise of authoritarianism, xenophobia and nationalism is also fueling young people’s desire to act, as opportunities that were once available to their parents’ generations have nearly disappeared.

“The exit option of at least temporary migration has been closed as a part of the authoritarian age we are living in,” Sinha said.

It is also no surprise that the countries where this unrest is unfolding are experiencing the brunt of major extreme weather events, he said, where older generations are in power and often taking inadequate steps to stop global warming from getting worse.

For young people, “the idea of the future being cancelled appears to be very real – – and I think that is partly the sort of contagion we see,” Sinha said.

As traditional forms of challenging political discontent become more challenging, Gen Z are looking to their peers in other countries for a roadmap.

Über die Proteste in Marokko berichtet die BBC:

Starting on 27 September with protests across 10 cities, the crowds have been building through the week, chanting slogans such as: "No World Cup, health comes first" and "We want hospitals not football stadiums".

The police have responded with seemingly arbitrary mass arrests and in certain places things have turned violent, leading to the death of three protesters.

Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch said on Thursday that he was open to dialogue, but the leaderless movement has vowed to keep going until there is concrete change.

A list of their demands has been shared on social media. They include:

Free and quality education for all
Accessible public healthcare for everyone
Decent and affordable housing
Better public transport
Lower prices and subsidise basic goods
Improve wages and pensions
Provide job opportunities for youth and reduce unemployment
Adopt English as the second language instead of French (after Arabic)
Anger had been growing, but what galvanised the movement was the death over a number of days in mid-September of eight women in a maternity ward of a hospital in the southern city of Agadir. There were some reports that the deaths could have been prevented if there had been better care, proper equipment and enough medical staff. (...)

What makes Gen Z 212 different is that those demonstrating say they are not tied to a political party and do not appear to have a formal structure.

"We are not a political movement. We have no leader," Ms Belhassan says.

"Maybe that's why the police were arresting people, and why the government kept silent – because, in their eyes, we didn't follow the traditional path of organisations and political parties."

But there is some disquiet about the violence.

On the night of 1 October, three protesters died in the town of Lqliaa after people attempted to storm a police station. The local authorities said security forces opened fire after protesters tried to start a fire and steal weapons from the station, then subsequently released supporting CCTV footage to disprove emerging false narratives online.