Nepal has witnessed an unprecedented political journey in the second week of September 2025 often deliberated as a Gen Z movement. The strength, conveyance and consequences of the movement has stunned a great numbers of people, including social scientists, political pundits and civil society within and outside the country.
Nonetheless, the flamboyant movement has also raised certain questions which has created skepticism amongst the masses. It is time to critically assess the components of Gen Z movement that need to be amply discussed in the days to come as the contemporary context points out Gen Z movement at the critical juncture.
Computing the change: Enquiry from the commoners
Democratisation, a process where the regime is always said to understand-rule by the people has been the utmost central phrase of all the nation-state irrespective of their internal challenges and considerations in the 21st century.
Nepal, being part of this global structure can not refrain itself from this democratic practices and adherences. Similarly, Nepal’s constitution 2072 has echoed multi-party democracy, people’s participation representation, diversity and election as the fundamental feature. The Gen Z movement has been indefinite regarding this central theme.
The fundamental questions for them that need to be questioned are; how have they assumed of the constitution of Nepal to be? What are their say on Constitutionalism? What about the rule of law and daily socio-legal practices?
At this point, it seems they abide themselves within the constitutional framework of Nepal 2072 but still there is big ideological and political gap within them to which direction they are going to and what they need to stand by?
Further, the serious questions that generally come for them is; are they looking for a regime change? Are they fed off of political parties? Or are they looking for new faces in the given political parties of Nepal? Or are they considering for the party-less political system? Or the political system excluding the present political parties of Nepal and replacing it with the political parties which validate young folks only (Gen Z)?
The sooner they try to consider these questions and answer in a superior way, the more clearly their vision would be. Another, serious questions they need to tackle is how many groups should we Nepali considered as a Gen Zs?
As the Gen Z is a loose forum being built in the technological world and harnessed through common agendas and goals of accountability and corruption free society, and the proclamation of the many leaders and claiming oneself as the title holder of the movement appears to sabotage the triumphant of this movement.
Correspondingly, the relation, bonding and connectedness constructed in the technological world among the Gen Z group members seems to be very instrumental, unlike to the intact political organisations alignment which reside on the fixed party based policies, principles and ideologies.
As said earlier, political organisations have a firm structural frame, which guide the basic inhabitants with the established principles of the political parties, Gen Z strappingly lacks this structural frame making them feebler in their manifestation.
In future, the identification of claiming oneself as Gen Z along with the demand of newer Nepal exhibited through accountability and corruption free society can only be met, if they critically retrospect their ongoing share in this bigger socio-political transformation with distinct identity, robust organisations configuration and a tangible validation.
From Movement to Revolt and Riot: A cyclic repercussions
How the commoners like me has wandered this Gen Z movement? Had it been a perfect example of movement? Or the threads of movement had been entwined within the territory of revolt or riots? Charles Tilly and Sidney Tarrow, renowned sociologist, political scientist and historian in the book Contentious politics urged to overcome the problems associated with movements is to identify the common mechanisms and processes in different combinations so that they operate well enough in all the range of contentious politics and bring the change.
They regarded contentious politics involves interactions in which actors make claims bearing on other actors interests, leading to a coordinated efforts on behalf of shared interests or programs in which governments are involved as targets, initiators of claims, or third parties.
For them, movements involve collective actions, contestation or in some form of conflict where public claims on the authorities and government. It is a process where the locals goes beyond the established political practices and demonstrate their demands, rights, as the political channels/parties are insufficient to comprehend the realistic condition of them.
Thus, for Tilly and Tarrow, movements are persistent campaigns organised by the locals to make the collective claims on authorities. In certain instances, we could see a commonality of characteristics among movement, revolts and riots which include plurality of individuals, confined by a distinct political or social agendas, along with collective claims on authorities.
However, ideally there are certain variations in differentiating movements, revolts and riots. Unlike to movement, revolt continuously counterattack the authority being organised but less motivated than a revolution or movement while riot is more spontaneous outburst of restricted violence often triggered with fierceness, derail from the set agendas and lack the clear leadership to channel the protest.
On September 9, Gen Z movement shockingly turn its steering from movement to riot which was further intensified in the forms of vandalisms and atrocities being carried at different public spheres, national centers and corporate houses. Similarly, we must not deny the fact that, they were not genuine Gen Zs but they can not even give off the fact that Gen Zs were the ones who directed and in-scripted the whole strategy of collective action against the corruption and accountability in this mission.
The then context lacks common mechanisms and processes in different combinations and possible means which has stimulated the fear of cyclic repercussions of these sorts of protests not as movement but as a riot. Hence, this rapidly transformed context demand for the well-versed organisational skills, paramount understanding of the social political context of the society and a vigorous collective action by the Gen Z with a grave importance.
Missing threads: Urban vs rural
The Gen Z movement was flared in utmost every urban centers of Nepal may it be Kathmandu valley or other places. Equally this movement was designed in tech-world with innovative means, flying slogans and memorable phrases as Gen Z resembles themselves as instant, catchy and innovative folks.
The famous Nepo baby’s trend was at hype in Tiktok making it widely recognise among the young folks. But, the important section they lack was the rural territory to be part of this protest. There is no doubt that today’s folks even at rural areas are tech friendly and are well-versed with the technology but the sense of belongings and solidarity was not well enough in linking the rural threads.
Further, Nepal has witnessed numerous political changes and revolutions in diverse historical trajectories. From the downfall of feudal aristocracy, to political liberation, Nepal has observed all forms of antagonism in different arrangements of Bangsabaad (based on the ascribed status/blood ties), Bargiya sangharsha (Class based antagonism), to this new Gen Z movement synonymously claimed as Pustantaran (transformation of hereditary ownership).
However, whatever may be the revolutions it has always been urban centric in its purview, city centric and episodic. In all these instances, the roots are missing, the diaspora is missing, and originality is missing. The rural since the time and again has always been contested as cynical.
The cynical rural has limited exposure, more skepticism, lesser political presence but higher political commitment as the cynical operators/rulers have always created a big gap between rural and urban dwellers. Unlike to this fact, Gen Z movement could have encompassed them in wider spectrum through class, gender, geography, ethnicity and rural.
Similarly, Gen Z might have been successful in linking the missing thread between urban and rural usually through tech-world but the legitimacy, the solidarity, the power and the belongingness has been always seized by the urban dwellers. The missing threads of urban and rural have been always pervasive and challenging, as the folks who demanded for Pustantaran could have at least comfort this basic thread but unfortunately they could not.
Gen Z movement at crossroads
The Gen Z movement reminds of the famous dystopian novel –1984 by George Orwell where the party led by big brother controls every aspects of citizens through surveillance, a totalitarian control. Winston a dominant character commits a crime to resist the totalitarian regime by maintaining a diary but in due course got arrested for the crime, a thought crime meaning thinking in the ways not being approved by the ruling party.
At the end, Winston will power is broken and he becomes loyal to party. The leaders of Gen Z movement should learn the lesson from the character of Winston. If the leaders of Gen Z movement really want to lead a powerful, innovative and corruption free government they need to organise their leaders. It easier to battle in the ground through revolts or movements, but the gigantic battles often need a tactful, organised and meaningful provision.
Meanwhile, the international political directives has always been a high-handed in all forms of socio-political changes of Nepal. In the significant book States and Social Revolutions, Theda Skocpol urged that it is the state crises that triggered the social revolutions, where the internal administrative and military weaknesses are aggravated by international pressures from more powerful neighboring states.
Nepal’s context somehow is more adjacent to the explanations made by Skocpol. Both the internal as well as external dynamics counter attack the political context of the state. Gen Z needs to be visible, agile and organised to combat this international pressure.
As, the flight taken by the Gen Z movement has been widely applauded, praised and acknowledged by the national citizens. However, the movement is in a critical juncture meaning on the one hand , Gen Z needs to be structured its alignment with various spheres and stakeholders, on the other the distributions of faiths, hopes and lesson learnt has been eagerly demanded by the locals.
As, the wide goal of this movement is paradigm shift, a symmetrical shift which accentuates all the socio, economic and political agendas of the country. Yet, if Gen Zs do not coordinated the above mention points, the lurk Gen Z is on the way!
