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Since the end of last week, several Moroccan cities have seen protests led by Generation Z youth, responding to calls spread through social media. Videos documenting these demonstrations show a generation more daring in expressing its demands and more reliant on digital platforms as a means of mobilization.
What does «Generation Z» mean?
To better understand this phenomenon, Chakib Guessous, a researcher in sociology and anthropology, told Yabiladi that the concept of «generations» is usually tied to major historical, social, and economic contexts, which differ from one country to another. «The generation that lived through the Green March in Morocco did not necessarily experience the same events as other generations in different countries. Generations vary depending on the specific context of each society», he explained.
Researchers generally distinguish several generations: the Baby Boomers (1946–1964), born after World War II and associated with values of stability, work, and diligence; Generation X (1965–1980), which experienced early economic and technological change and is seen as balanced between conservatism and openness; Generation Y or Millennials (1981–1996), who grew up with the beginnings of the internet, though not at its peak; and Generation Z (1997–2012), born into the heart of the digital revolution, where smartphones and technology have been integral to daily life from childhood.
According to Guessous, Generation Z has been familiar with smartphones from a very young age, unlike the previous generation that only adopted this technology later. Today, it is «common for parents to give children phones before the age of five, making this generation more connected to the internet and more exposed to the outside world». This environment, he said, has shaped their personality and behavior, even though scientific research on them remains limited both in Morocco and internationally.
Pinpointing the subtle differences between Generation Z and earlier generations remains difficult due to the lack of comprehensive studies. However, Guessous notes that their ways of expression reflect the times they live in.
Boldness doubles with each new generation
When it comes to boldness, the researcher believes that each new generation expresses itself more freely than the one before. He points out that the recent protests were not limited to Generation Z, as young people from Generation Y also joined in, as shown in widely circulated videos.
Social media, Guessous emphasized, has played a decisive role in these movements. «Just a voice recording or a short message was enough to drive young people into the streets», he said. By contrast, during the February 20 protests, although calls spread via Facebook, most participants already knew one another or received invitations directly. In these latest demonstrations, many protesters had never met before.
Guessous concluded that if protests of the 1960s and later decades had benefited from the internet, their reach and impact would have been far greater. In his view, the web has amplified the voice of today’s youth and strengthened their visibility. While the number of participants remains smaller than in the demonstrations of the 1980s or even the February 20 Movement, technology has allowed their actions to resonate much more widely.
