A proposal for discussion
ORIGINS
During the first World Social Forum, more than a thousand people
representing hundreds of social movements, NGOs and trade unions of
the whole world gathered in a common assembly and, with a feeling of
strong unity, approved the "Porto Alegre Call of the Social Movements
for Mobilization". (1) This was a unique and important moment.
The World Social Forum provides spaces, agendas and conditions for
all organizations opposed to neo-liberalism to come together, to
debate and to propose. The Forum as a whole does not assume
specific positions or actions, but neither is it neutral, as shown in the
WSF charter of principles and in the programming of the conferences.
Regarding the matter of statements, declarations and actions,
participants are free to organize in order to articulate initiatives in their
own name, as long as it's not confused with the WSF role.
This was the spirit of the 2001 Porto Alegre "Call of the Social
Movements" which, after a series of discussions and debates
evaluating the consequences of the neo-liberal policies across the
world, called on the social movement to mobilize against a series of
institutional events in the year ahead, such as the annual meetings of
the World Bank and IMF, the ministerial meeting of the WTO and the G8
Summit in Genoa.
Building on the Porto Alegre process, there was an international
meeting of social movements in August 2001 in Mexico City, following
the Congress of the Latin American Confederation of Rural
Organizations (CLOC). This meeting, called by CUT and MST of Brazil,
ATTAC-France and Focus on the Global South/Thailand, strengthened
the decisions of Porto Alegre 2001 and gave us the opportunity to
debate and construct proposals taking considering the political,
language and cultural differences of the participants.
The second World Social Forum in January 2002 was the first great
international event opposing neo-liberal globalization after September
11. It was a tremendous success, bringing together more than 50,000
people from across the world and demonstrating deep commitment to
the work of building international resistance and solidarity. Again in
2002, hundreds of social movements, NGOs and trade unions met over
five days to prepare a common call for action. The second call of the
social movements (2) emphasized the rise of militarism and our
opposition to war, as well as highlighting the failures of neo-liberal
capitalism demonstrated by Argentina's economic and political crisis
and the collapse of the US corporation, Enron.
At this time, the MST and the CUT volunteered to establish a secretariat
to help coordinate preparations for the social movements meetings in
the coming year and during the 2003 World Social Forum.
The secretariat has proposed that we initiate a debate on how the
social movements that started to come together in Porto Alegre could
move in the direction of a more permanent articulation, while clearly
preserving the differences between this initiative and the WSF.
This suggestion is now being framed as a proposal to establish a
"Social Movements World Network". The process is in its first stages
and the purpose of this paper is to engage many different groups in a
regional and global discussion about this idea and to establish a
process that takes advantage of the upcoming regional and thematic
events promoted by the WSF.
Before drafting this document, some of these ideas were raised at the
Asian Social Movements meeting held in Bangkok 10-12 August and
the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in
August 2002, where a meeting of social movements was called. Other
meetings to discuss this proposal are scheduled for Quito, Ecuador,
during the mobilizations against the FTAA; in Florence, Italy, during the
European Social Forum; in Bel?m, Brazil, during the Amazonian Social
Forum; in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the African Social Forum; and in
Hyderabad, India, during the Asian Social Forum. Depending on the
evolution and outcome of the debates we intend to call for a grand
assembly in Porto Alegre to conclude discussions and adopt
resolutions.
THE HISTORICAL MOMENT
To constitute a minimum base for a social movements world network, it
is necessary to have a clear perspective of the historical moment in
which we are living.
The failure of neo-liberal economic policies to promote economic and
social justice has weakened the consensus on the "Washington
Consensus". At the same time, the multilateral institutions promoting
structural adjustment, trade and financial liberalization, especially the
WTO, IMF and World Bank, are rapidly losing their legitimacy.
Simultaneously, we are experiencing a tremendous rise in public
opposition to neo-liberal policies in both the South and the North and
the internationalization of the social movements, trade unions and
NGOs opposing these policies and working for social and economic
justice. At the same time, though, many of the "traditional social
movements" and political parties, especially in the North, are facing a
crisis as they struggle to develop new strategies, structures and
approaches in response to a very dynamic and complex situation.
The rise of unilateralism, the war in Afghanistan, the establishment of
new US military bases in the Philippines and other parts of Asia and the
belligerent threats against Iraq, are all attempts to reinforce the
domination of the big countries of the North, in particular the United
States. In Latin America, the US military presence is growing under the
pretext of the "war on drugs" and in all parts of the world, the "war on
terror" has provoked the violation of basic political and civil rights and a
rise in fear, xenophobia and racism. This, too, is giving rise to new
alliances and convergences between social movements, trade unions
and NGOs in the South and North and highlighting the links between
militarization and globalized capitalism.
Economically, the global system is undergoing a severe crisis of
overproduction and declining profits, resulting in massive lay-offs,
corporate restructuring and a collapse in share prices. In this context,
corruption at the highest level of corporate America is now coming to
light, as are the intimate links between US capital and the US
administration.
Democracy itself is under threat. Vibrant and dynamic democracies
give us hope, yet in many countries elite democracies or dictatorships
prevail. In others, voter turn-out is at an all-time low and fascist and
fundamentalist political parties are able to capitalize on economic and
social marginalization. Internationally, the United Nations system - which
for many is the last hope of inter-state democracy - is ineffective and
powerless, as witnessed in Johannesburg during the World Summit on
Sustainable Development (WSSD) where the agenda of people-
centered sustainable development was hi-jacked by the needs of
corporate-centered economic growth.
THE PROPOSAL TO CONSTITUTE A SOCIAL MOVEMENTS WORLD NETWORK
The world is changing very quickly and we need new structures,
decision-making processes and new formations to articulate and drive
a radical democratic, feminist, internationalist and anti-imperialist
agenda.
This requires the constitution of a network of movements that is squarely
in defense of democracy and peace and that is broad, plural, feminist
and anti neo-liberal. We need a movement that is independent of
political parties, that respects the autonomy of the organizations
constituting the movement and is non-ideological. That does not mean,
though, that it is not political.
During the 2001 and 2002 World Social Forums, assemblies of social
movements adopted resolutions articulating common analyses and
committing common
mobilizations. These assemblies were open to all delegates at the WSF and the
agreements were constructed collectively and endorsed by mass assemblies.
During the WSF 2003, we propose to discuss the creation of the Social Movements
World Network. This proposal is a clear indication of our willingness to build
a common framework as a reference and as a tool for our international
mobilizations, however such a proposal can only succeed with the engagement of
movements from around the world in discussions and debates.
WHY DO WE NEED A SOCIAL MOVEMENTS WORLD NETWORK?
A Social Movements World Network would help us develop the conditions so that
the diverse social movements of the world can exchange analyses, opinions and
information on the present conjuncture and establish some shared priorities and
necessary tasks, before and after the meetings of the WSF. The debate,
interchange and coordination between us could then become a more permanent
process.
The objective is to go beyond episodic encounters among the movements of the
diverse countries and continents, to construct a deeper political debate, to
establish horizontal structures to facilitate exchanges and common actions and
to extend the reach of the movements in all the continents.
This demands at least the establishment of a minimum coordination and exchange
of information through a web site, e-mail and the Secretariat (3).
DEBATING THE PROPOSAL FROM HERE TO PORTO ALEGRE
In the lead-up to the 2003 WSF, we will organize meetings during the regional
and thematic forums listed above to debate this proposal. We will then carry
the conclusions and proposals from these meetings into Porto Alegre itself, so
that the final assembly is the accumulated result of a process involving
movements from around the world, and not only those in Porto Alegre.
The Secretariat has built a data bank of the organizations and networks that
signed the manifestos of 2001 and 2002, but it is necessary to identify other
social movements, unions, NGOs and organizations that should be brought into
the initiative.
We have prepared this document to provoke debate and discussion on the proposal
to build a Social Movements World Network in the many regional events taking
place before the next WSF, when the assembly of social movements, NGOs and
trade unions will be asked to adopt a final position on the proposal.
CUT - Brazil, MST - Brazil, World March of Women - Quebec, ATTAC - France and
Focus on the Global South - Thailand. (3)
Notes:
(1)
http://www.focusweb.org/publications/2001/Porto%20Alegre%20Call%20for%20Mobilisation.htm
(2)
http://www.focusweb.org/publications/2002/Porto%20Alegre%20II-Call%20of%20social%20movements.htm
(3) The role of the signatories of this document is simply to promote its discussion and we do not assume any other mandate.
Source: Focus on the Global South
