A specialist in historical and comparative political sociology, former director of the Center for International Research, Jean-François Bayart is a professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, where he holds the Yves Oltramare Chair in Religion and Politics in the Contemporary World. He is notably the author of L'Energie de l'Etat ("The Energy of the State," 2022).
Does the mobilization of Gen Z in the Global South represent a new form of protest?
Since the failure of the 2011 Arab Spring, we have entered an era of global conservative revolution: Donald Trump in the United States, Vladimir Putin in Russia, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, Narendra Modi in India. These are phenomena of restoration – or establishment – of authoritarianism, blending the exaltation of so-called "traditional" values with the celebration of technology. Established European democracies are not immune to this. The coups d'état in the Sahel and the presidential election in Senegal also bear the mark of this trend.
This conservative revolution rests on two dynamics. On the one hand, the discrediting of democracy, often leading to its being called into question. On the other, the persistence of regimes of economic predation, reshaped by neoliberalism since the 1980s. These systems concentrate wealth in the hands of those in power, privatizing public services and transforming the state into a tool for accumulation by an elite.
