A lot of people say that Gen Z doesn’t have much interest in politics in Brazil. Is that right? What are the reasons for that and how important is the participation of young people in this area?
Thus, I had a conversation with someone who had a lot to say about this topic. Diego Carlos, educational policies director of UNE – União Nacional dos Estudantes – the biggest student organization in the country.
Lack of interest or dissatisfaction?
In 2022, the presidential election year in Brazil, the number of voters between the ages of 16 and 17 was smaller than in other years. Voting is one of many ways to participate in political topics, but many people say that current youth don’t care about political questions like in other generations.
For Diego Carlos, the apathy of youth in policy still is a pandemic reflex, where people didn’t socialize at the time: “The lack of socialization is related with politics, that is a dialogue between opinions”, but this goes a lot further than the pandemic era.
This disinterest can also be related to social conditions when people in comfortable circumstances don’t care about changing, since the pleasant position of being privileged by a government makes them forget about those who are suffering the consequences of that administration, not thinking collectively. “The idea of the meritocracy of our system leaves the collective behind and people think of acquiring things just for their own” – says the director of UNE.
Another social condition that influences this, is poor access to information. Even teenagers in school do not have any political education.
Also, Diego said that this generation doesn’t have the feeling of being Brazilian, so they don’t feel the need to fight for the country. “Our generation doesn’t see themselves as Brazilian or Latin American, we don’t have much propagation of national identity”.
But can we generalize these statements that Gen Z is not interested in politics? Staying up to date with your country’s news, fighting, and discussing what you believe is right — even if indirectly —, can show a political interest. This way, Diego says that a lot of young people are starting to show their voices: “This generation doesn’t accept being ‘suffocated’ without saying anything, we are now fighting for our rights”.
Being young inside politics isn’t easy work, since older people often don’t respect the younger’s opinions and attitudes. Like Diego said, “It is so much harder for the youth to impose themselves against someone older”. But for him, this doesn’t mean that we can’t conquer our space. Slowly, we can open new ways to be there.
Why is it so essential to be updated in politics?
It is obvious that being updated at least in the country’s politics is very important, because like this you know the system that you are living in, so you can formulate opinions about it and realize what no longer fits and needs to change.
“I think that Gen Z has the possibility of renewing Brazilian politics”, says Diego Carlos about the importance of this generation in politics. Furthermore, he says from that, they can reformulate public politics which doesn’t make sense for this generation now. “Our evolution is always linked to the confrontation with old and conservative ideas”. In other words, youth have the role of bringing more ideas and changing old thoughts and mores.
For this, it is necessary that this generation be encouraged to participate in these matters. In brief, the participation of youth in policy means inclusion, democracy, and a new vision of the world. “Youth is not the future, youth is now”. What Diego said, says a lot about Gen Z.
The article above was edited by Julia Tortoriello.
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