Almost 30 cities, a call for protests and a group in the making: “Gen Z regulates” is mobilizing for Saturday. After the riots in France, there is also a lot of attention here.
Students blocked the Otto Suhr Institute at the Free University of Berlin on Wednesday to oppose rearmament and social cuts. The campaign was organized by the “Gen Z regulates” initiative. Photo: Michael Ukas/dpa
Berlin. Violence, arson, looting, curfews and bans on demonstrations: the demonstrations against high costs of living and for better education in France are also attracting attention in Germany. Now demonstrations are to follow here too - but under different circumstances.
Who wants to take to the streets in Germany on Saturday?
The group “Gen Z regulates” or “Gen Z stands up” is calling for the protests. It is not entirely clear which specific people are behind this. The website's imprint was changed twice within a week; on Thursday there was a Swiss address. In addition to the website, mobilization also takes place in social media such as TikTok and Instagram and news channels such as Telegram - nationally and locally.
However, such a loose organizational structure is typical for an emerging protest movement, notes Jannis Julien Grimm from the Center for Interdisciplinary Peace and Conflict Research at the Free University of Berlin. “Especially in early mobilization phases, protests often arise from informal networks, personal contacts and digital communication structures,” he told the German Press Agency in Berlin. “A binding organization with clear responsibilities, fixed spokesperson roles and a well-developed political program often only develops later in life, if at all.” This was also the case with Fridays for Future, for example.
What does the name “Gen Z Rules” mean?
Gen stands for generation. Gen Z is a generic term for an age cohort that is not clearly defined. The US research institute Pew Research Center records people born after 1996, and the Federal Agency for Civic Education records those born between 1995 and 2010. What they have in common is that they grew up with digital media and have no memory of a world without smartphones, writes Pew.
What are the initiators about?
“Gen Z regulates” sees itself as showing solidarity with the student protests in France. There are six more or less concrete demands on his website:
“Money for schools, addiction support and psychotherapy instead of cuts.”
"An affordable life. People's concerns should be at the top of the agenda."
“Distribute the burden fairly instead of cutting corners on the younger generation.”
"No to compulsory military service. Nobody will decide our future without us"
“Protect fundamental rights instead of continually expanding surveillance.”
“Consistent climate protection now so that we have a future.”
Grimm sees a common experience of political powerlessness and increasing uncertainty about the future in various European countries. “For years we have seen an increasing aggravation of social inequality, rising costs of living, chronic underfunding of the education system in many places and a climate crisis, the long-term consequences of which will primarily be borne by the younger generations,” he said. “In addition, there is the increasing militarization of European security policy, debates about conscription and rearmament, and the question of who should bear the costs of these political decisions.”
This creates a generational conflict, especially in aging European societies, says the scientist: "Young people will feel the long-term consequences of today's decisions particularly strongly, but at the same time they have comparatively little political weight." Especially for students, who are often not yet eligible to vote, protest is one of the few opportunities to make their interests publicly visible and build political pressure.
Could there be riots here like in France and Italy?
As always, authorities do not rule anything out in such situations, but they remain relatively calm. The Federal Ministry of the Interior does not currently see any concrete calls for violence. A spokesman said that the federal security authorities currently have no further information about planned violent riots in connection with the demonstrations and meetings. However, parts of the left-wing extremist scene and isolated groups from foreign extremism took up the calls for demonstrations and took part in the mobilization.
Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik Meisel said on Wednesday that there were “calls that are trying to follow the protests in France.” However, these are currently not happening. So far there is no concrete evidence of planning for looting like in France.
Researcher Grimm believes that riots on a scale like those in France are unlikely. The police there are taking a much tougher approach. In addition, social acceptance of confrontational forms of protest is lower in Germany, which is why there is little to gain for protest movements.
Nina-Kathrin Wienkoop from the Berlin Institute for Protest and Movement Research emphasizes: "It would be important that the escalation that has already been rhetorically anticipated does not influence the operational planning of the police authorities. The course of the demonstrations in France should not determine the police measures in this country." Instead, the authorities should, as usual, rely on the number of participants and findings on site.
Why does the day of protest attract so much attention?
According to Wienkoop, the fact that the announced demonstrations are attracting so much attention is due to the situation in Germany's neighboring country. "Without the riots in France, the question of whether there would also be violence in Germany on Saturday would not be so discussed in the media and politics. This is also the obvious opportunity for the calls for protest themselves."
Requests to speak in the past few days probably also contributed to the great attention. The federal chairman of the police union (GdP), Jochen Kopelke, told "Bild" about people who wanted to use the official protests for their own benefit: "These are young riot migrants who are keen on violence against the police. We have to keep them in check and they must not expect any mercy from us."
Brandenburg's Interior Minister Jan Redmann (CDU) referred to calls particularly from the left-wing radical scene. Halloween was deliberately chosen for this - a day on which people mask themselves and have already committed bodily harm and property damage “under the protection of the masquerade”. “The day is used as an opportunity to deliberately let things get out of hand,” said Redmann. He spoke of a deliberate attempt to bring French conditions to Germany.
How does “Gen Z regulate” feel about violence?
On its website, "Gen Z Rules" makes it clear: "Our protest is peaceful, without exception. Violence against people or things contradicts everything we stand for. We can only achieve something together peacefully."
However, this is sometimes less clear on social media. “While German-made bombs are being thrown at schools in other countries, in this country people are discussing whether and how bad it would be if a Gucci store were expropriated by the masses,” says a post on an Instagram account called “genzregelt” with more than 9,000 followers. “Do not promote the narrative of a division between peaceful and violent demonstrators.”
Where should the demonstration take place?
Demonstrations were recently announced for almost 30 German cities. In Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt and Munich, “Gen Z” says it organizes content and processes.
