Strategic Factors of Gen Z's Leadership in Technology-Mediated Student Protests: Empirical Insights from the July Movement in Bangladesh
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48165/sajssh.2026.7102Keywords:
GenZ, Technology-mediated protest, Digital activism, SDG-16, Social media platforms, Adaptive leadership, Peace, Justice and Institutional Strength.Abstract
This study investigates how Generation Z (Gen Z) exercised leadership during technology mediated student protests in Bangladesh (July–August 2024), focusing on the communication strategies that enabled collective action for Justice and Institutional Strength. Drawing on survey data from 2,120 participants across schools, colleges, and universities, ten leadership dimensions were assessed using a five-point Likert scale. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and confirmatory factor analysis were employed to examine the relationships between leadership traits and digital mobilization tactics. Findings indicate that Adaptive and Resilient Leadership (ARL) serves as the central mechanism driving effective protest leadership, with key contributors including Emotional and Value-Based Leadership (EAVBL), Crowdsourcing and Collective Intelligence (CCI), Global Connectivity and Networked Leadership (GCNL), Rapid Information Dissemination and Crisis Management (RIDCM), and Transparency via Digital Platforms (TATDP). Digital tools such as hashtags, viral campaigns, and narrative storytelling were found to mediate collective action through crowdsourced intelligence, highlighting how technology facilitates decentralized coordination, rapid mobilization, and emotionally resonant leadership. The study develops a conceptual framework integrating leadership strategies and technological engagement, offering empirical insights into how Gen Z leverages digital tools to orchestrate effective, socially transformative protest movements. These findings contribute to scholarship on digital-era leadership, youth activism, and technology-mediated collective action, providing actionable insights for policymakers, educators, and scholars interested in participatory, digitally driven social change.
References
Acharya, A. (2024). Influence of youth engagement on Nepal's political evolution: An analysis of emerging youth-led movements. Interdisciplinary Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 5(2), 1–13.
Alam, S. M. S. (1991). Language as political articulation: East Bengal in 1952. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 21(4), 469–487.
Alexander, A., & Aouragh, M. (2011). The Egyptian experience: Sense and nonsense of the Internet revolution. International Journal of Communication, 5, 1344–1358.
Anderson, T. (1997). The movement and the sixties: Protest in America from Greensboro to Wounded Knee. Oxford University Press.
Arafa, M., & Armstrong, C. (2016). “Facebook to mobilize, Twitter to coordinate protests, and YouTube to tell the world”: New media, cyberactivism, and the Arab Spring. Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective, 10(1), 1–16.
Azim, F., & Zaman, T. (2024). Awaiting a new dawn in Bangladesh. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 1–11.
Afrin, M. (2024). Perceiving protest through memes: Multidimensional influence of memes in the dynamics of student protest in the Bangladeshi context. Social Science and Humanities Journal, 8(8), 4675–4680.
Baker, R. T., & Gower, K. (2010). Strategic application of storytelling in organizations. Journal of Business Communication, 47(3), 295–312.
Barbuto, J. E., & Burbach, M. E. (2006). The emotional intelligence of transformational leaders. Journal of Social Psychology, 146(1), 51–64.
Barron, A., & Coulombel, P. (2024). Open up! An appeal for dialogue between scholars of corporate political activity and open strategy. Strategic Organization, 22(3), 620–635.
Bakhit, M. (2023). A revolution from the centre: Class, digital cultures, and the 2018–2022 Sudan uprising. In Digital technologies, elections and campaigns in Africa (p. 17). Routledge.
Bass, B. M., & Riggio, R. E. (2006). Transformational leadership. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bessant, J., & Watts, R. (2025). Young and invisible in a time of polycrisis. Journal of Youth Studies, 1–18.
Bennett,W. L., & Segerberg, A. (2012). The logic of connective action. Information, Communication & Society, 15(5), 739–768.
Bennis, W. (1989). On becoming a leader. Addison-Wesley.
Boal, K., & Hooijberg, R. (2000). Strategic leadership: Moving on. The Leadership Quarterly, 11, 515–549.
Breuer, A., Landman, T., & Farquhar, D. (2015). Social media and protest mobilization. Democratization, 22(4), 764–792.
Bruns, A., & Burgess, J. E. (2011). The use of Twitter hashtags in the formation of ad hoc publics. In Proceedings of the 6th European Consortium for Political Research General Conference.
Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. Harper & Row.
Carson, C. (2003). A call to conscience: The landmark speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Grand Central Publishing.
Castells, M. (2010). The rise of the network society (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
Castells, M. (2012). Networks of outrage and hope. Polity Press.
Chan, J. M., & Lee, F. L. F. (2020). Media and protest logics in the digital era. Oxford University Press.
Christiansen, S. (2019). From student activists to Muktibahini. In F. Jacob (Ed.), Genocide and mass violence in Asia (pp. 78–98). De Gruyter Oldenbourg.
Cleaver, H. (1998). The Zapatista effect. Journal of International Affairs, 51(2), 621–640.
Cheng, E. W., Lui, E., & Fu, K. (2024). The power of digital activism. New Media & Society, 26(11), 6416–6439.
Christens, B. D., Gupta, J., & Speer, P. W. (2021). Community organizing. Journal of Community Psychology, 49(8), 3001–3016.
Coe, A. B., Wiklund, M., Uttjek, M., & Nygren, L. (2016). Youth politics as multiple processes. Journal of Youth Studies, 19(10), 1321–1337.
Cox, J. M. (2017). Social media as an informational source. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 40(11), 1847–1854.
Donaldson, L. (2001). The contingency theory of organizations. Sage.
Della Porta, D., & Diani, M. (2006). Social movements (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
Della Porta, D., & Tarrow, S. (2005). Transnational protest and global activism. Rowman & Littlefield.
Dinh, J. E., et al. (2014). Leadership theory and research. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 36–62.
Donoso, S. (2013). Dynamics of change in Chile. Journal of Latin American Studies, 45(1), 1–29.
Donoso, S., Pavlic, R. D., & Cumsille, R. B. (2023). Social policy expansion from below. World Development, 167, 106213.
El-Ghobashy, M. (2012). The praxis of the Egyptian revolution. Middle East Report, 41(258), 2–13.
El-Khawas, M. (2012). Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution. Mediterranean Quarterly, 23, 1–23.
Faraj, S., & Leonardi, P. M. (2022). Strategic organization in the digital age. Strategic Organization, 20(4), 771–785.
Fernando, J. (2023). The citizen’s uprising in Sri Lanka. Human Geography, 16(2), 181–186.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Structural equation models. Journal of Marketing Research, 18, 382–388.
Ganz, M. (2010). Leading change. In N. Nohria & R. Khurana (Eds.), Handbook of leadership theory and practice (pp. 527–568). Harvard Business Press.
Ghosh, S. (2024). Conceptualizing student movements in Bangladesh post-2013. Social Identities, 29, 1–21.
Hair, J. F., et al. (2010). Multivariate data analysis. Pearson.
Hair, J. F., et al. (2016). A primer on PLS-SEM. Sage.
Hair, J. F., et al. (2017). A primer on PLS-SEM (2nd ed.). Sage.
Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2015). Discriminant validity. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(1), 115–135.
Hall, S. (2008). American patriotism, American protest. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Handique, V. (2020). Women and protest movements in Sudan. NIAS Quarterly on Contemporary World Affairs, 2(2–3), 1–12.
Hasan, M., Biswas, A., & Ahsan, A. (2020). Role of Facebook in quota reform movement. Global Journal of Human-Social Science, 20(14), 36–48.
Heifetz, R. A. (1994). Leadership without easy answers. Harvard University Press.
Howe, J. (2006). The rise of crowdsourcing. Wired Magazine, 14(6), 1–4.
Howard, P. N., & Hussain, M. M. (2013). Democracy’s fourth wave? Oxford University Press.
Hussain, M. (2012). Students as pressure groups in Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of History and Culture, 33(1), 157–172.
Jackson, S. J., Bailey, M., & Welles, B. F. (2020). #HashtagActivism. MIT Press.
Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68.
Khan, F. (2022). Student movement against Ayub Khan. Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review, 6.
Lee, F. L. F., et al. (2021). Digital affordances in networked movements. Information, Communication & Society, 25(12), 1699–1716.
Leong, C., et al. (2020). Digital organizing of global social movements. Information and Organization, 30(4), 100324.
Liveris, A. (2023). Why today’s leaders need to be perpetual learners. Harvard Business Review.
Madanchian, M., et al. (2024). Transforming leadership through AI. Procedia Computer Science, 235, 2101–2111.
Maniruzzaman, T. (1980). The Bangladesh revolution and its aftermath. Bangladesh Books International.
Maxwell, J. C. (1998). The 21 irrefutable laws of leadership. Thomas Nelson.
Merchant, R. M., & Lurie, N. (2020). Mental health consequences of COVID-19. JAMA Internal Medicine, 180, 817–818.
Mintzberg, H., & McGugh, A. (1985). Emergent and deliberate strategies. Administrative Science Quarterly, 30(2), 160–197.
Miao, Q., et al. (2013). Ethical leadership effects. Journal of Business Ethics, 116(3), 641–653.
Moore, M. (1993). Ideological origins of the JVP. Modern Asian Studies, 27(3), 593–642.
Morris, A. D. (1984). The origins of the civil rights movement. Free Press.
Nasrin, S., & Rahman, M. M. (2019). Politicization of student politics in Bangladesh. Journal of Social Science Studies, 6(2), 17–42.
Obeyesekere, G. (1974). April 1971 insurgency in Sri Lanka. Journal of Asian Studies, 33(3), 367–384.
Pfeffer, J. (2010). Power. HarperCollins.
Philips, C. (2024). Digital communication and online activism. Journal of Communication, 5(3), 31–44.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1–6.
Podsakoff, P. M., et al. (2003). Common method biases. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903.
Rainer, T. S., & Rainer, J. S. (2018). The millennials. B&H Publishing.
Rickford, R. (2016). Black Lives Matter. New Labor Forum, 25(1), 34–42.
Rubio, C., et al. (2018). Youth and social movements. Journal of Youth Studies, 22(2), 223–239.
Saka, E. (2017). Digital emergences after Gezi Park. Research and Policy on Turkey, 2(1), 62–75.
Seemiller, C., & Grace, M. (2016). Generation Z goes to college. Jossey-Bass.
Seidman, M. (2004). The imaginary revolution. Berghahn Books.
Shifman, L. (2014). Memes in digital culture. MIT Press.
Sharp, G. (2005). Waging nonviolent struggle. Porter Sargent.
Singh, K., & Bhargavi, D. H. (2024). Social media and social movements. Sampreshan, 17(2), 505–604.
Smith, R. G. (2024). Chilean students’ opposition to dictatorship. In Student resistance to dictatorship in Chile. Palgrave Macmillan.
Snow, D. A., Soule, S. A., & Kriesi, H. (2004). The Blackwell companion to social movements. Blackwell.
Somma, N. M., et al. (2020). The Chilean Spring. Social Movement Studies, 19(5–6), 551–558.
Tarrow, S. (2005). The new transnational activism. Cambridge University Press.
Tilly, C., & Wood, L. J. (2009). Social movements, 1768–2008. Paradigm Publishers.
Tadros, M. (2012). The pulse of the Arab revolt. Current History, 111(742), 323–328.
Ta’amneh, I., & Al-Ghazo, A. (2021). Hashtags and social awareness. International Journal of Learning and Development, 11(4), 10–24.
Tanjeem, N., & Fatima, R. E. (2023). Road safety protest in Bangladesh. In Young people shaping democratic politics. Palgrave Macmillan.
Taylor, K.-Y. (2016). From #BlackLivesMatter to Black liberation. Haymarket Books.
Tosi, H. L., & Slocum, J. W. (1984). Contingency theory. Journal of Management, 10(1), 9–26.
Tufekci, Z. (2017). Twitter and tear gas. Yale University Press.
Valenzuela, S. (2019). Social media and protest behavior. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(7), 920–942.
Willaby, H. W., et al. (2015). Testing complex models with small samples. Personality and Individual Differences, 84, 73–78.
Wang, T. Y. (2023). Hong Kong and the anti-extradition movement. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 58(1), 3–7.
Xinyue, D. (2023). Social media as a tool for political mobilization. Journal of Public Representative and Society Provision, 3(1), 10–20.
Zahan, M., Khan, A. R., & Mathbor, G. (2024). Gen Z’s leadership strategy in the student movement. SSRN Working Paper.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 South Asian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
