The zed generation spectacularly entered the global socio-political scene. It shook the sleeping authoritarian systems from Mexico to Thailand - including ours - and thus became probably the first generation of young people about whom even the most "jangriz" old men speak with admiration.
The fire of rebellion fueled by members of "Gen Z" broke out in 2025 and engulfed more than 20 countries. The biggest focus was in Asia, where analysts and journalists have already coined the term "Asian Spring", recalling a similar but incomparably more serious wave of upheavals that took place in North African countries in 2011.
In addition to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, "Gen Z" led protests in Mexico, Peru, Paraguay, Morocco, Kenya, Mozambique and Madagascar, and tongues of flame stung Western countries, from the campuses of American universities, all the way to Slovakia, Bulgaria and, of course, Serbia.
In Nepal, where it was the bloodiest, the fire literally came to the door of state institutions when on September 4 the government tried to ban social networks. Dozens of people died in the violent demonstrations, parliament buildings, government buildings, as well as politicians' residences were set on fire, and the government officially resigned on September 9.
Taking into account everything that happened in the last year, the professor of the Faculty of Political Sciences, Bojan Vranić, told "Vreme" that the word of the year would be "Gen Z".
"Students were the leaders, but as with any 'political elite', those who are more educated will be the leaders of the rebellion. What we have seen not only in Serbia, but also in other countries that have problems with democracy, such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Morocco... It is a rebellion of a generation," says Vranić.
photo: pexells...
THEIRS "AUGMENTED REALITY"
According to the so-called "generation theory" of William Strauss and Neil Howe, which is disputed by certain scientific circles, each generation is shaped by key historical events and social trends during the growth of its members. Gen Z, which, according to Strauss and Hove, includes children born between 1997 and 2012, is the first generation to grow up with digital technologies, which is the factor from which the interpretation of their actions usually starts. And here science has something to say.
Sociologist Dalibor Petrović tells "Vreme" that the elderly fundamentally do not understand how young people use technology.
"We often think that they go into virtual reality and neglect the real world. But we don't see that they are the first generation to live augmented reality. The online space complements the real world. For example, when the tragedy happened in November last year, they expressed their sentiments online, but they were also physically connected in colleges. Something that was an isolated feeling of a group of friends, when transferred to the online world, becomes a general sentiment shared by everyone. Then they see that it is not theirs in isolation and it is not transitory", explains Petrović.
Unlike some other generational defining factors that are conditioned by local contexts, the importance of digital technologies lies in their universality. The Gen Z movements managed to do something that was not possible for the pre-internet generations, which is to create a global network of solidarity available to everyone at any time.
Mateja Mladenović, a student at the Faculty of Political Sciences, told "Vreme" that his peers actively follow events in the world, mainly through TikTok and other social networks.
"The videos of the collapse of a corrupt, kleptocratic, nepotistic and oligarchic regime like the one in Nepal are extremely inspiring," says Mladenović. "We welcomed them with enthusiasm. But not because of violence, as some wish, but solidarity. Their struggle is what we have been leading in Serbia for a year."
The inability of elders - especially decision-makers - to understand the "extended reality" that kids from all over the world are clinging to in anti-regime Genji movements has also provided an advantage on the ground during times of crisis. With the help of the Internet, young people managed to mobilize tens of thousands of citizens for the evening, to inform the public within a few seconds about any illegal events, to protect themselves from "fake news" or personal discrediting to which the whips of the regime are prone. And what is most useful, they exchanged experiences with each other and thus evolved.
Professor Vranić calls it "secondary socialization", that is, "peer learning".
"In addition to formal training on democratic actions that exist within the civil sector and which we cannot ignore, there is also very strong informal education that comes from social networks, and lately also from artificial intelligence. It is social training, where you are theoretically given some skills, then it is up to you whether and when to apply them", explains Vranić.
HOW GEN Z Grew Up
It is difficult to determine the exact historical moments that influenced the formation of Gen Z since the events that are usually mentioned in the Western-centric discourse such as the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, the migrant crisis and the covid 19 virus could not affect everyone in the same way, especially not the countries of the so-called "Third World" that are a significant part of this story.
The generation that carries the student protests in Serbia formed a political consciousness at a time when disillusionment with the post-October 5 transition was at its peak. For the younger ones, the situation was only worse, since that dissatisfaction later materialized through the enthronement of the Serbian Progressive Party. The sentence "they are all the same" that young people here heard from disappointed parents only made them politically lethargic. Topics such as controversial privatizations, the economic crisis, the Hague Tribunal, accession negotiations for the European Union, the Kosovo issue and the gradual collapse of democracy, except for the few who were interested, were abstract and difficult to identify.
Professor Petrović also explains the sociological dimension of the political disinterest that reigned among the young people of Genzi.
"That passivity was a consequence of some kind of 'abundance' in which young people grew up," says Petrović. "A child often gets more than the family can provide materially. Those children, in the material sense, but also in the sense of indulgence, were the first to be at the epicenter of their families. They are not taught to fight too much to get something. But the moment they come to university, they encounter a world in which the family does not protect them. University is their first image of adult society, where they encounter injustice, nepotism, corruption, with the awareness that what they thought was quality in life maybe it won't bring results. There's probably also fear for the future. That's what previous generations had, but not some other factors that affect the current youth."
And the main factor that influenced these young people to stand up was November 1, 2024.
FACTOR 1. NOVEMBER
Several first-year students say that in the last little more than a year there has been a sudden intra-generational change in interest in political issues. The key event, they say, was the death of sixteen people when the canopy at the Novi Sad Railway Station fell. The fact that anyone could be found under it had a sobering effect, after which it became clear to them that corruption is not just an empty phrase used by politicians in pre-election campaigns. This impression of the freshman is supported by the numbers.
In April and May of this year, the umbrella organization of the youth of Serbia (KOMS) conducted a survey in which as many as 81,3 percent of young people between the ages of 15 and 30 marked corruption as the biggest problem in Serbia, which is more than any other category offered in the survey. For the sake of comparison, in the same period in 2024, corruption was only in third place with 51,2 percent, right behind the education system, the value system, and the lack of democracy and justice.
A sharp jump in the perception of the biggest social problems among young people was also observed in the categories of lack of democracy and justice (from 56,2 to 79 percent), health system (from 37,8 to 57 percent) and security (from 29,1 to 42,5 percent). It is also interesting that only 34 percent of young people rate education as the biggest problem in society, significantly less than last year when it was 67,6 percent. Which is not surprising, given that universities were the pillar of the Gen Z movement in Serbia when it was the most difficult.
WHY THESE ONES?, NOT THE ONES BEFORE
photo: pexells...
On the other hand, if we are talking about intergenerational differences, specifically, about why it "broke" in this generation and not in an earlier one, it would be more interesting to put things qualitatively. Professor Vranić says that the answer to the question "why exactly Gen Z?" should be looked for in the change of generations that cherish different values.
"When you look at world leaders, hardly anyone is younger than 70," explains Vranić. "There is a generational change between the so-called 'boomers' and the new Gen Z, which means that we have come to a state of change in social values. We are coming out of that period of the Second World War and the Cold War period where material value systems, above all national security, were the most important social values. Now this is changing with another set of social values that are more towards post-material values that concern identity and freedom. We are witnessing a quiet revolution that is mostly loaded in politics. But not only in politics, but and in the application of technology, lifestyle, how we think about finances…”
Professor Petrović sees the clash of generations, among other things, in the change of attitude towards authority.
"This is the first generation for which authority does not play a big role," says Petrović. "They were not brought up like their parents that the state is the law, that the teacher has an unquestionable reputation, that the elderly are as important as they once were. They are growing up as a generation that is the measure of its own success and what is good or bad. In this sense, they have no problem questioning the role of any authority. Whether it is parents, teachers or an incompetent institution at the top of the state."
Student Mateja Mladenović says that the difference can be seen in the fact that the older generations are shaped by "negative historical circumstances" more than it is the case with young people.
"They are partly victims of wars, undisputed leaders, chauvinist megalomania, hyperinflation, and on the other hand, they have made the decision to remain in that conformism. Unfortunately, this is dominant in the area of the former Yugoslavia, with the exception of perhaps Slovenia. I think the main obstacle for the older generations is their inability to resist the contradictions of the nineties that they project onto today," says Mladenović.
WHAT MEMBERS OF GENE Z BELIEVE
When it comes to the attitude towards ideological issues, the Genzi people we talked to point out that there are slight ideological differences, but that it is characteristic of them that they do not allow such differences to be imposed on them as a priority in relation to the body of basic values that they agreed on at the beginning of their struggle. "Just like with the older generations, there are also huge divisions with us when the topics of Kosovo and Metohija, European integration, sanctions against Russia and so on are raised. But what definitely distinguishes us is the aspiration to establish a sound basis. I am talking about institutions. There is no discussion, let alone clear political action, without strong institutions and the rule of law", Mladenović believes, adding that information is necessary for thinking about important national issues.
"Information is available, that's true, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's only available with one click. That's where faculties are key. We need a reminder that readily available information is often unverified, shallow, inaccurate, sometimes misleading. Such 'information' often leads us into unnecessary discussions and conspiracy theories. The faculty is there to shape our attitudes and direct us, and in turn, in a few years, we need to find a modus operandi for this society. We must not fall for twisted political narratives, especially if we want to tackle such big topics as Kosovo and Metohija and European integration", he says.
Professor Petrović notes that the understanding of politics of members of Gen Z is relieved of the traditional political restraints in which some older generations grew up. "When we talk about the majority, which made these protests different from some earlier private protests in which young people also participated, they now ignored politics at first," he explains. "It was something for adults, something bad, corrupt and something that has nothing to do with the foundations they would believe in. But the moment they get involved, they don't adopt our political customs, but return to the roots of politics, to what they learned about ancient Greece, about some basic elements that make up democracy, the constitution, the state, and from there they try to build a society by denying the political establishment, whether it's the opposition or the government."
As is usually the case with generational issues from Socrates on, it is difficult to fully convey the phenomenon of a generation to those outside of it. Likewise, Gen Z will not be understood by anyone who does not see that young Nepalese did not ask for the burning of institutions but their resurrection, that our students are not "weak" if they want the same, that it does not matter who the president is as long as the constitution watches over him, that banning social networks is not "defense of true values" but an attack on identity and freedom of speech, that trash culture is also cool, that "shitpost" is also funny...
But what needs to be understood is what members of Gen Z have been telling us all these months about the world we live in. And they don't speak very nicely.
