Posted on 8-3-2002

World Social Forum Already Huge
by Bruce Dyer*

Photo shows French anti-globalization activist Jose Bove (R), wearing a
t-shirt of the Brazilian Landless Movement (MST) and posing with MST leader
Joao Pedro Stedile at the end of the anti-Davos Global Forum of
non-governmental organizations, in Porto Alegre January 30, 2001. A federal
judge overruled an order to expel Bove from the country by Federal Police
authorities after Bove took part in a raid on a Monsanto bio-tech farm in
southern Brazil. The decision allowed Bove to remain in the country until
the end of the conference

The Forum was timed to coincide with the World Economic Forum meeting in
New York, which represented the interests of the world's corporates. The
World Social Forum (WSF) on the other hand is a deliberate attempt to focus
an alternative social and economic structure as reflected in the Forum's
theme "Another World is Possible".

The first WSF held in Porto Alegre a year earlier was attended by
approximately 20,000 people. The second WSF II was an impressive if not
overwhelming event. It was attended by between 50,000 and 60,000 mostly
young people, with representatives from 119 countries, 107 local
administrations and 1000 lawmakers. The largest delegations from countries
other than Brazil were Italy (979 delegates), Argentina (924), France
(682), Uruguay (465), and the US (406).

The Forum was held with the backdrop of the collapse of the Argentinean
economy, the bankruptcy of the Enron Corporation. Regarding Argentina,
Mario Soares the former Portuguese President stated that "Argentina reveals
a country that is entering a situation of chaos and destruction of the
State and it is crucial for international organisations to help prevent the
spread of the crisis to the rest of Latin America. Uruguay is at risk, as
is Brazil."

Each morning of the World Social Forum there were 7 conferences to choose
from and in the afternoon sessions, a smorgasbord of 700 workshops and 100
seminars. From 6-8pm each day there were testimonials given by prominent
people. The conferences covered 4 themes viz. Production of wealth, Access
to wealth and sustainability, Civil society and the public realm and
Political power and ethics. Summaries of the activities at the WSF 2002
will shortly be available on the WSF website, while a summary of the
proposals from the conferences can be found at
www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/eng/ind_conf.asp

Interest groups were able to present their issues in one of the hundreds of
information stalls. 150 computers were made available for the 2800
journalists and 402 press organisations covering the event. The Forum
enlisted the support of 1800 volunteers. During the Forum there were
approximately 500,000 daily hits on Forum's website
www.forumsocialmundial.org.br

Parallel forums included a World Parliamentary Forum, a Forum of Local
Authorities which challenged local mayors to ensure their policies
facilitated social inclusion and democratise wealth, a World Forum of
Judges which encouraged judges to respect the peaceful struggles of all
people for social inclusion, A Forum of Trade Unions Organisations which
included the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, The World
Labour Confederation and the ILO, World Junior Social Forum (6-14), a
Preparatory Forum for Rio+10 to be held in Johannesburg in September 2002
and a Pan-Amazonian Social Forum which set up a framework for popular and
social movements and organisations located in the countries bordering the
Amazon.

Other special events included a Peace conference addressed by Noam Chomsky
and Nobel Peace prize winners, an Assembly of the participatory budget on
war expenditures that discussed how funds allocated to military purposes
might be better used, An International Peoples Tribunal on the External
Debt that analysed the global implications of foreign debt, A Climate
Tribunal that discussed the models of production and consumption defended
by the West and their relation to the increase of poverty in the world with
the goal of pointing out alternatives, A Youth Camp with 15,000 young
people and a programme of political and cultural activities, A dawn
meditation that brought together people representing a wide range of
spiritual traditions and a Continental March against the Free Trade Area of
the Americas on the last day of the World Social Forum.

Significantly the World Social Forum received organisational and financial
backing from the State Government of Rio Grande du Sul (10.2 million
people) and the Municipality of Porto Alegre (1.4 million people). The
State announced it had spent $US1 million in organising the Forum but
expected to take $US10 million. An editorial in "Agora" the Journal of the
Municipality of Porto Alegre reflects the Municipality's position in
relation to the Forum. It contrasts the World Social Forum with the World
Economic Forum as follows "During several days, the southernmost capital of
Brazil and the North American metropolis, a symbol of progress and wealth,
are promoting events that represent two absolutely opposite views of the
world. .... In Porto Alegre, thousands of people will be involved in
building alternatives for a society that is more just, and the focus will
be the need for peace among the most diverse peoples of the earth. In New
York, the tendency is to create new forms to mask the disparity between the
rich and poor countries. Not even the smoke rising from the destruction of
the World Trade Centre towers will be capable of hiding the inequalities
around the globe  the concentration of wealth and lands, the property as
an asset that superimposes upon life itself, the exclusion, and the
unemployment of many."

Significance of the World Social Forum

The significance of the Forum is that as Chomsky has said it represents a
burgeoning global movement for change. As it develops, such a movement has
the potential to form the basis of interrelated peoples movements which
have the capacity to effect dramatic change. Such movements saw Indonesias
Suharto driven out of office in 1998 and the Philippines' President Estrada
in 2001. Most recently, in December a popular uprising overthrew the
Argentinean government of Fernando De la Rua.

Satya Sivaraman wrote that "dissidents within and outside the movement are
raising serious questions about both the composition of the Forum and the
direction in which it is headed. "In an open letter to the thousands of
participants gathered from around the world" she wrote, "a group of
Brazilian trade unionists have accused the Forum of trying to give 'a human
face to globalisation' through minor reforms like the Tobin tax and not
addressing the underlying realities of 'global capitalism'. " 'Capitalist
globalisation has destroyed nations, democracy, and the sovereignty of the
poor. It cannot be 'humanised' says the letter signed by over 20 trade
union leaders including Julio Turra, National Executive Committee, of
Brazil's Central Unica dos Trabalhadores (CUT), which is one of the
organisers of the WSF. The signatories to the letter have decided to
boycott all the panels, workshops and official sessions of the World Social
Forum."

In January 2003 next year's World Social Forum will also be held in Porto
Alegre. In 2004 it will be held in India and in 2005 in Africa.

Regional Social Forums. The organising committee of the World Social Forum
is supportive of regional social forums being held in different parts of
the world prior to the next World Social Forum. Discussions are underway
for a New Zealand city to host an Australasian Regional Social Forum in
January 2003. Internationally known speakers who attended the World Social
Forum can be expected to attend.

* bdyer@prout.org