Pakistan's Gen-Z is politically energetic, digitally connected, and increasingly vocal. Yet despite its visibility, it has struggled to produce a movement capable of uniting young Pakistanis across ideological divides. The reason, I believe, is not a lack of passion, but the kind of causes around which that passion has been mobilized.

Any Gen-Z-led movement in Pakistan is far more likely to become effective and sustainable when it mobilizes around shared civic grievances rather than the cause of a single political party or leader. When youth mobilization narrows itself to the release of one politician, the fortunes of one party, or an election campaign, it almost inevitably fragments along ideological and partisan lines from the outset.

Political scientist Mancur Olson argued that broad public causes often struggle to mobilize, since individuals can benefit from collective action without participating in it. Successful movements reduce that cost of participation, allowing shared grievances to become collective action. Charles Tilly and Sidney Tarrow, in turn, showed that social movements become politically influential when their demands are broad enough to create coalitions across ideological divides. The broader the grievance, the broader the coalition.

It is equally important to distinguish political parties from social movements. Political parties exist primarily to compete for state power through elections and governmental institutions.........

© The Friday Times