This discussion note reflects on three topics in relation to the World Social Forum : on the dynamics of the WSF as a whole, on the International Council of the WSF, and on the Forum process in India. It is not so much a ‘paper’ as a discussion note, prepared in a form that might be useful for discussion or reflection sessions. Pdf format.
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The World Social Forum 2003, which took place in Porto Alegre from 23 to 27 January, had more than 100 thousand participants, counting delegates, observers, press representatives and activists from all over the world. In total, 20,763 delegates, representing 5,717 organizations from 156 countries, attended and 1,286 workshops were held.
This Forum was characterized by collective enthusiasm, hard work, and the diversity and sheer numbers of those present, together with a capacity for formulating proposals and articulating alliances around the most varied of issues. The multitudinous demonstrations that marched through the streets of Porto Alegre gave out a clear message of support for peace and rejection of the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
It is very possible that this global movement, reunited here for four days, is already managing to change things in this world, with its encounters, discussions, coordinations, actions and above all, with its determination to change the world.
Candido Grzybowski, director of IBASE, the Brazilian NGO that acts as the secretariat of the Organizing Committee, reiterated in the closing act the founding principles of the Forum as an open space that does not make declarations, present final documents, nor adopt political positions. "The final document of the World Social Forum is the sum total of everything that was said in all of the two thousand activities," he said.
One thing that can be said, according to Grzybowski, is that concern for women's status and for gender equity was present throughout the Forum and its organization. Putting this concern into practice, however, has not been easy to achieve -only one woman was present among the six people giving the final press conference. The other common concern clearly manifest this year, he stressed, was the support shown for peace.
The World Social Bibliography A bibliography on the World Social Forum and the global solidarity and justice movement. By Jai Sen and Peter Waterman, with Madhuresh Kumar, December 2003, pdf format.
The Asian Social Forum in Hyderabad in January 2003 was a demonstration of India's commitment to the WSF process. A preparatory meeting at Bhopal in April 2002 framed the Bhopal Declaration, which governs the WSF process in India. The organisational outline of the process was also formulated.
From 5 to 9 January 2002, more than two hundred social movements, organisations and institutions from forty-three African countries met in Bamako, Mali, in an African Social Forum.
The International Council of the World Social Forum has adopted orientations to give continuity to the process of the World Social Forum after the 2003 edition of its main annual event in Porto Alegre.
The committee of Brazilian organizations that conceived of, and organized, the first World Social Forum, after evaluating the results of that Forum and the expectations it raised, consider it necessary and legitimate to draw up a Charter of Principles to serve as guidelines for the continued pursuit of that initiative.
This discussion note reflects on three topics in relation to the World Social Forum : on the dynamics of the WSF as a whole, on the International Council of the WSF, and on the Forum process in India. It is not so much a ‘paper’ as a discussion note, prepared in a form that might be useful for discussion or reflection sessions. By Jai Sen, New Delhi, India, May 2003. Pdf format.
A background note for a seminar Series at the University of Delhi, August – December 2003. By Mukul Mangalik and Jai Sen, with the help of Madhuresh Kumar.
The Third World Social Forum, held in January 2003, was marked by a questioning of the extent to which the Forum - now an increasingly globalized phenomenon - itself embodies what it is preaching to others. A Peter Waterman paper analyzing the complexities of the WSF and its future challenges.
It is now two years since the first World Social Forum was held in January 2001, and a year since we established the World Social Forum in India in January 2002. In my understanding, the formation of the World Social Forum (WSF), globally and then in India, has been a very important step since I believe that WSF is an extremely significant social and political intervention in world affairs. This significance alone demands critical reflection on a first year’s involvement with this process both in India and internationally. By Jai Sen.
The World Social Forum is a new social and political phenomenon. The fact that it does have antecedents does not diminish its newness. Rather, quite the opposite. It is not an event, nor a mere succession of events. It is not a scholarly conference, although the contributions of many scholars converge in it. It is not a party or an international of parties, although militants and activists of many parties all over the world take part in it. It is not an NGO or a confederation of NGOs, even though its conception and organisation owes a great deal to them. It is not a social movement, even though it often designates itself as a movement of movements. Although it presents itself as an agent of social change, the WSF rejects the concept of a historical subject and confers no priority on any specific social actor in this process of social change. It holds no clearly defined ideology, either in defining what it rejects or what it asserts. See also Part II. pdf format.
A Paper for the NIGD (Network Institute for Global Democratisation) Seminar at the World
Social Forum, on ’Global Democracy? A North-South Dialogue’ held on February 4 2002, at Amarzen, Porto Alegre. By Jai Sen.
The World Social Forum at Porto Alegre has become symbolic of the forces beginning to shape a front of common resistance to the pattern of imperial globalization. Yet its character and composition remain little understood. Michael Hardt analyses the debates within it, and their political potential. By Michael Hardt.
Replying to Michael Hardt with an alternative look at Porto Alegre, Tom Mertes argues that while the variety of movements and forces in the WSF is not to be reduced to a single scale, the differences between them are less to do with organization than strategy. By Tom Mertes.
Grassroots activists and members of civil society must be empowered to assert their economic, social and cultural rights in the context of a globalized world, say many of the Latin American organizations participating in the second World Social Forum.
The proposed new tax, which would be levied on global financial transactions, continues to generate strong debate - not so much over its practicability as over its real effectiveness in curbing the various ills associated with globalization today.
At the second World Social Forum, Ignacio Ramonet, editor of Le Monde Diplomatique, proposed an `ecology of communications´ to confront the contamination of the media by the globalizing powers, which through the force of repetition often turn the truth into lies, and lies into truth.
Labour unions attending the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre say it is time they transformed themselves into a new global organization able to fight injustice and represent the poor.
Part of the Choike team covered the Forum's workshops, conferences, panels and roundtables direct from Porto Alegre. For NGOs from the South, the Forum has become a place to make their voices heard and exchange experiences and ideas. This was the main focus of Choike's coverage, in line with its aim of giving visibility to Southern civil societies.
