Agency rationality and hybrid activism in Generation Z: a regional comparative study from the Capabilities Approach and the REDGlobal

The global increase in digitally articulated youth protests in contexts of political crisis, inequality, and surveillance raises questions about their sociopolitical scope and the institutional conditions that shape their effectiveness. The general objective of the study was to compare global evidence on Generation Z’s hybrid protests in order to identify expressions of agency and analyze how conversion factors condition the expansion of sociopolitical capabilities across different contexts. The study followed a PRISMA 2020 systematic review of studies published between 2020 and 2025 in Scopus, Web of Science, and institutional repositories. Thirty-nine documents were selected; variables were extracted, and coding was conducted using MAXQDA through directed content analysis. The corpus shows predominance and growth between 2023 and 2025; hybrid protest integrates digital dissemination, coordination, and street mobilization. TikTok and Instagram enhance visibility, while messaging platforms facilitate coordination. Repression, surveillance, censorship, and digital divides limit political impact. It is concluded that hybridization expands visibility, coordination, and expression but does not guarantee sustained achievements; conversion depends on political openness, security conditions, surveillance, censorship, and informational governance. The Capability Approach and REDGlobal framework structure the interpretation.