Nepal’s 2025 Uprising: Geopolitical Entrapment, Neoliberal Failure, and Gen Z Activism
Article Sidebar
Page Numbers:
201-215
Digital Object Identifier:
10.58578/ijhess.v4i2.8947
Viewed: 119 times
Downloaded: 102 times
LYAS Publisher cordially invites qualified professionals to serve as Editors or Reviewers. Your expertise will make an important contribution to maintaining and strengthening the academic quality of our publications. Interested applicants are kindly requested to complete the application form at the following link: Editors & Reviewers
Please feel free to contact us if you need any further information about the submission process or if you have any additional questions.
Authors:
Santa Bahadur Thapa1* 
Copyright :
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication.
Main Article Content
Abstract
This paper examines the Gen Z September 2025 movement in Nepal to explain how endemic corruption, deep socioeconomic disenchantment, and digitally native activism converged to generate an unprecedented wave of political change. It aims to analyze the movement’s rapid escalation, the constitutional “fault line” it exposed between revolutionary digital legitimacy and established constitutional legality, and the broader implications of this crisis in terms of regional contagion and governance instability. The study employs a mixed-methods approach combining qualitative textual analysis of geopolitical reporting with quantitative analysis of digital mobilization metrics. Empirical evidence includes data on digital participation, such as a Discord poll used to select a new Prime Minister, indicating that political authority was, in part, derived through digital channels. The findings suggest that the uprising was structurally shaped by the breakdown of neoliberal policies, entrenched high-level corruption, and the influence of external actors, including the United States through the MCC, India’s geopolitical influence, and the role of INGOs and EDPs, which collectively contributed to domestic instability through weak institutional ownership. The paper concludes that the movement precipitated the downfall of the government and triggered a constitutional crisis. Its contribution lies in highlighting how digital political legitimacy can destabilize conventional constitutional frameworks when combined with systemic corruption, external geopolitical pressures, and severe social inequality, thereby underscoring the need to move beyond revolution-era accountability toward deeper structural reforms addressing governance failures and the contradictions underlying violent instability.
Citation Metrics:
Downloads
Article Details
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
References
Al Jazeera. (2025, September 9). Nepal protests updates: PM Oli resigns, parliament torched, airport shut. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/9/9/nepal-protests-live-nepali-congress-office-top-leaders-homes-set-on-fire
Babushahi. (2025, September 10). Nepal Army extends nationwide curfew, issues prohibitory orders amid ‘Gen Z’-led protests. Babushahi. https://www.babushahi.com/view-news.php?headline=Nepal-Army-extends-nationwide-curfew%2C-issues-prohibitory-orders-amid-%27Gen-Z%27-led-protests&id=210472
Bhatta, C. D. (2025). Development for geopolitics and geopolitics through development: Perspectives from Nepal. Journal of Political Science, 25(1), 117–134. https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JPS/article/view/75777
Bhattarai, K. D. (2025, September 12). Karki takes helm as Nepal’s new PM amid mounting challenges. The Annapurna Express. https://theannapurnaexpress.com/story/58540/
Bhatta, M. (2025, September 15). From smartphone to streets, will Nepal’s Gen Z revolution deliver change? The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2025/09/from-smartphone-to-streets-will-nepals-gen-z-revolution-deliver-change/
EAF Editors. (2025, September 22). Nepal is the latest of Asia’s unfinished revolutions, keeping politics stuck in a loop. East Asia Forum. https://eastasiaforum.org/2025/09/22/nepal-is-the-latest-of-asias-unfinished-revolutions-that-keep-politics-stuck-in-a-loop/
Hien, P. Q. (2025, September 20). From Bangladesh to Nepal: What puts youth at the heart of South Asia’s political crisis. Modern Diplomacy. https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2025/09/20/from-bangladesh-to-nepal-what-puts-youth-at-the-heart-of-south-asias-political-crisis/
Hindustan Times. (2025, September 14). From protests to Discord polls: How Nepal’s Gen Z chose their new prime minister. Hindustan Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/from-protests-to-discord-polls-how-nepal-s-gen-z-chose-their-new-prime-minister-sushila-karki-101757770141161.html
Indian Express. (2025, September 25). UPSC issue at a glance | Turmoil in Nepal: GenZ protest and India-Nepal relations. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/upsc-current-affairs/upsc-essentials/upsc-issue-at-a-glance-nepal-genz-protest-india-nepal-relations-10270530/
International Foundation for Electoral Systems. (2022, March 17). Young Nepali leaders advocate for enfranchisement of young voters in the 2022 elections. https://www.ifes.org/news/young-nepali-leaders-advocate-enfranchisement-young-voters-2022-elections
Jayakumar, A. (2025, September 21). Nepal PM selected via Discord: How the gaming chat app empowered its Gen Z protestors. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-global/nepal-pm-discord-gaming-chat-app-gen-z-protests-10248009/
Karkee, R., & Comfort, J. (2016). NGOs, foreign aid, and development in Nepal. Frontiers in Public Health, 4, Article 177. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2016.00177
Kharel, S. (2025, September 9). ‘Topple this government’: Nepal’s Gen Z protesters demand mass resignations. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/9/9/we-want-mass-resignations-nepals-gen-z-anger-explodes-after-19-killed
Kharel, S. (2025, September 15). ‘More egalitarian’: How Nepal’s Gen Z used gaming app Discord to pick PM. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/15/more-egalitarian-how-nepals-gen-z-used-gaming-app-discord-to-pick-pm
Menon, V. (2025, September 18). Nepal’s youth uprising is part of a South Asian wave of rebellion. New Lines Magazine. https://newlinesmag.com/argument/nepals-youth-uprising-is-part-of-a-south-asian-wave-of-rebellion/
Mulmi, A. R. (2025, September 24). From Streets to Discord: How Nepal’s Gen Z toppled a government. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2025/09/nepal-gen-z-topple-government
Post Report. (2025, September 9). Prime Minister Oli resigns amid deadly protests. The Kathmandu Post. https://kathmandupost.com/national/2025/09/09/prime-minister-oli-resigns-amid-deadly-protests
Raj, R. K. (2023). The manifestation of small state syndromes in foreign policy of Nepal: An assessment through case of MCC grant. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 7(11), 446–454. https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/articles/the-manifestation-of-small-state-syndromes-in-foreign-policy-of-nepal-an-assessment-through-case-of-mcc-grant/
Rediff. (2025, September 10). What the Hilton hotel in Kathmandu looks like now. Rediff. https://www.rediff.com/news/commentary/2025/sep/10/what-the-hilton-hotel-in-kathmandu-looks-like-now/c3b36ab9436f6ecd0ceef04918e7509f
Sankaran, V. (2025, September 15). Sushila Karki: How Gen Z protestors chose Nepal’s first woman prime minister on Discord. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/south-asia/nepal-sushila-karki-new-prime-minister-discord-protests-b2826473.html
Sharma, G., & Ahmed, A. (2025, September 11). Former chief justice Karki named Nepal’s first female PM after violent unrest. Investing.com. https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/nepals-former-chief-justice-karki-likely-to-be-appointed-interim-pm-source-says-4236348
Shivamurthy, A. G. (2025, September 20). South Asia’s youth uprisings: Trends, causes, and implications. Observer Research Foundation. https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/south-asia-s-youth-uprisings-trends-causes-and-implications/
Snellinger, A. (2018). From (violent) protest to policy: Rearticulating authority through the National Youth Policy in post-war Nepal. Modern Asian Studies, 52(3), 1043–1075. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X16000937
Subedi, D. B. (2025). Deadly Nepal protests reflect a wider pattern of Gen Z political activism across Asia. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/deadly-nepal-protests-reflect-a-wider-pattern-of-gen-z-political-activism-across-asia-264968
Torres, C. A. (2022). A neoliberal global south and its structural adjustment education programme. In M. L. F. P. A. Al-Harthi (Ed.), Handbook on education in the MENA region (pp. 265–283). Brill. https://brill.com/display/book/9789004521742/BP000027.xml
Treré, E., & Kaun, A. (2021). Digital media activism: A situated, historical, and ecological approach beyond the technological sublime. In G. Balbi, N. Ribeiro, V. Schafer, & C. Schwarzenegger (Eds.), Digital roots: Historicizing media and communication concepts of the digital age (pp. 193–208). De Gruyter Oldenbourg. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110740202-011
United Nations Development Programme. (2001). Nepal Human Development Report 2001: Poverty Reduction and Governance. https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/nepal2001en.pdf