 Noam Chomsky at World Social Forum 2003. Photo by Marcello Casal Jr/ABr. The World Social Forum (WSF) is an annual meeting held by left wing members of the alternative globalization movement to coordinate world campaigns, share and refine organizing strategies, and inform each other about movements from around the world and around many different issues. It tends to meet in January when its "great capitalist rival", the World Economic Forum is meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
The first WSF was held from January 25 to January 30, 2001 in Porto Alegre, organized by many groups involved in the alternative globalization movement, including the French Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens (ATTAC). The WSF was sponsored, in part, by the Porto Alegre government, led by Brazilian Worker's Party (PT). The town was experimenting with an innovative model for the local government which combined the traditional representative institutions with the participation of open assemblies of the people. 12,000 people attended from around the world. At the time, Brasil was also in a moment of transformation that later would lead to the electoral victory of the PT candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The second WSF, also held in Porto Alegre from January 31 to February 5, 2002, had over 12,000 official delegates representing people from 123 countries, 60,000 attendees, 652 workshops, and 27 talks. One famous speaker was famed American author and self-proclaimed dissident Noam Chomsky.
The third WSF was again held in Porto Alegre, in January 2003. There were many parallel workshops, including, for example the Life After Capitalism workshop, which proposed focussed discussion on non-communist, non-capitalist, participative possibilities for different aspects of social, political, economic, communication structures [1] (http://www.zmag.org/lacsite.htm).
The fourth WSF was held in Mumbai, India, from 16-21 January 2004. The attendance was expected to be 75,000 and it shot over by thousands. The cultural diversity was one notable aspect of the forum. The other notable decision that was taken was the stand on Free Software. One of the key speakers at the WSF 2004 was Joseph Stiglitz.
The fifth World Social Forum for 2005 is being held in Porto Alegre, Brazil between January 26-31.
In 2006 the forum will be held simultaneously in different cities around the world.
The WSF has prompted the organising of many regional social forums, including the European Social Forum, the Asian Social Forum and the European Education Forum. All social forums adhere to the Charter of Principles drawn up by the World Social Forum.
Criticisms
Like the World Economic Forum, the WSF produces little ideas which seems
practical. The event concentrates itself in criticism against general and vague
definitions of neoliberalism and imperialism, and rehabilitates
ideas of the old Communism.
Also the WSF states it is against the globalization, however since
globalization is rather an inevitable phenomenon, almost nothing is said about how to
deal with it.
The pluralism of the ideas in the WSF can be criticized since only characters
of the left and extreme-left movements are represented in the meeting.
Practically there is no space to alternative ideas and criticism which
desvitates from the current ideology of the participants.
Defenders of totalitarial and/or anti-democratic regimes are usually present.
In the first editions of the WSF were present members of
revolutionary and armed groups of the FARC and ETA.
In the WSF 2001 activists invaded and destroyed a plantation of experimental
transgenics of the Monsanto enterprise. [2] (http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/brasil/ult96u28760.shl)
External links
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