Youth have become more and more important political players in South Asia. They not only contest traditional political institutions but they also transform traditional democratic participation. In recent years, youth-led protests, student movements, digital activism and issue-based mobilization have emerged as significant forms of political discontent and demands for change. These trends point to larger issues of the generational dynamics of democracy in the region.
This panel will explore the role of youth protest and participation in political transformation and democratic processes in South Asia. It examines the contexts in which young people are likely to protest, how they do this and the political impact of their mobilization. The panel raises the question of whether youth-led movements reinforce democratic engagement, create meaningful institutional change or rather contribute to polarization and political instability. It also reflects upon the reasons why some movements succeed in gaining political influence and others remain unable to turn this into lasting political results. The panel has been designed with an aim to gather country specific and comparative inputs on youth political participation, student movements, social media and digital mobilization, electoral politics, civil society, democratic backsliding and protest against corruption, inequality and exclusion and ineffective governance. The link between informal modes of political involvement and formal democratic institutions, and the evolving role of technology for the organization and maintenance of collective action are highlighted.
The panel aims to transcend the notion of youth protest being a mere symptom of political discontent or generational discontent in South Asia by presenting a variety of cases from the region. It instead views youth mobilization as a dynamic type of democratic participation that has the potential to challenge existing political structures and create new opportunities for political engagement, representation and political change. The panel adds to the broader conversation about democratic participation, democratic change and democratic resilience in an area where there is a lot of political and social change going on, and where younger people are reinventing political engagement. It seeks to uncover commonalities and key differences between cases in South Asia and further our understanding of when youth mobilisation can be a legitimate platform of democratic renewal.