Why Youth Are Taking to the Streets: From Paris to Belgrade to India

In this Morning Brief conversation, Dia Rekhi speaks with political scientist and researcher at CERI, Sciences Po Paris Gilles Verniers about the wave of youth-led protests sweeping the globe. Starting with France’s student-led movement, they explore why young people anchor these uprisings, whether “Gen Z” is too simple a label, and how economic anxiety, shrinking opportunity and AI-driven job fears connect movements from Paris to Serbia to India’s Cockroach Janata Party. Vernier also discusses electoral conversion, why authenticity beats youth-speak in politics, how AI is reshaping campaigns, and why minority protests remain legitimate in a democracy. He closes by declining to predict where they lead.