Scheduled global protests, an alternative forum, and a raging debate with regards to the nature of global fora were the results of the 6th World Social Forum (WSF) held in Bamako and Caracas recently.

With the theme “Another World is Possible,” this year’s WSF was “polycentric,” with the first session held in Bamako, Mali on January 19 to 23 and the second in Caracas, Venezuela on January 24 to 29. The third session, to be held in Karachi, Pakistan, was postponed to late March.

This was the first time that the WSF was held in three locations across the world. The organisers say the new format aims at giving more people the opportunity to attend and to have a more widespread impact.

Grassroots representation

The experiment with polycentrism also addressed a persistent question some civil society members have raised: “Are grassroots organisations represented?” Africa, as the poorest continent in the world, could only send less than 100 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the past WSFs held in Porto Alegre, Brasil, and in Mumbai, India. This year, it was different. “We had over 300 people from the rural areas of Mali alone,” says WSF Bamako Coordinator Mamadou Goita. “Another 8,000 came from neighbouring countries…this has never happened before.”

In Bamako, the African participants felt “more connected to the process,” enabling them to present their issues, including female genital mutilation, early marriage, gender and illiteracy, as well as conflict situations in Western Sahara and the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.

Another innovative activity to the proceedings was a 15-km solidarity run to highlight the commercialisation of sports. “Another sport is possible,”said Goita, “”not one where people are bought and sold like commodities.”

An alternative to the alternative

Meanwhile, in Caracas, hundreds of participants became irritated at the inordinate focus on Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez with the WSF. They set up a parallel Alternative Social Forum (ASF), which gave them space to talk about the dangers of authoritarianism under a military strongman, a topic that could be taken as criticism of Chavez and was not discussed within the WSF.

ASF organiser Luis Silva said that the WSF “was born as an alternative (to the World Economic Forum), but little by little it has succumbed to political parties and governments. It is acting as a stage of support for Chavez.” ASF objected to the presence of red shirts of Chavez’s party everywhere, as well as to the rows of promotional booths which allegedly could censor debates about sensitive topics. Masks and talking dolls with Chavez’s face were also sold in the WSF.

The ASF, composed of activists from Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, also took issue with the WSF-Caracas receiving roughly USD 465,000 for administrative cost from the Venezuelan government. “WSF no longer represents us,” they said.

However, WSF organisers insisted that WSF is non-partisan, and that it is only in keeping with tradition that the host country contributed to the costs of the forum. In Bamako, the Mali government gave USD 280,000 despite being one of the poorest countries in the world.

A common topic for debate

DATE	ACTIVITY	LOCATION
March	Protests and other activities parallel to the Fourth World Water Forum	Mexico
March 18	International protest against the US occupation of Iraq	Not indicated
March 24-27	Conference against the US occupation of Iraq	Cairo
April 4-7	Humanitarian camp to promote the right to health	Bogota
April 17	Global uprisings against free trade treaties during the International Day of Peasant Struggles	Not indicated
July	Protests against the summit of the G8	St. Petersburg
September	Protests against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank	Not indicated
October	Indigenous People’s 3rd continent-wide conference	Guatemala
October 16	Global uprisings against free trade treaties during the World Food Sovereignty Day	Not indicated
November 17	Campaign for free, public, and secular education during the World Students’ Day	Not indicated

In Bamako as well as in Caracas, one issue remained unresolved: Should the WSF evolve and take a more active role in establishing mechanisms for concrete action, or remain a space for reflection and exchange?

The international Assembly of Social Movements (ASM), meeting in Caracas, announced a series of demonstrations to protest the US-led occupation of Iraq. They advocated that WSF should not stop at sharing experiences, but move on to organise networks and campaigns.

Some participants supported the advocacy of ASM, noting that concrete achievements have yet to be made after six years of global meetings. The secretary general of Civicus, a world alliance of NGOs, said it is time for the WSF to propose solutions instead of complaining about problems.

President Chavez likewise urged the participants to make WSF a “tool of struggle” against “political imperialism” and neo-liberal, free-market economic policies.

For some participants, however, it is crucial to retain the WSF’s intent as a space for the plurality and diversity of social movements. It is enough for them that it seeks to connect and encourage dialogues between different visions and struggles for emancipation. Wahu Kaara, a member of the organising committee for WSF 2007 in Nairobi, Kenya, said “the fundamental concern of the WSF is to mobilise people to make a statement…(and) the fact that…dialogues have taken place…is in itself a concrete manifestation of what the vision and the mission of the WSF is.”

ActionAid International, a development agency working in 42 countries, also sees the WSF charter as important for its “principles of diversity, peace interventions, solidarity, and search for alternatives.” Chief executive Ramesh Singh says “it is important that the WSF…has created and enhanced a large space—that doesn’t mean action does not take place within (it).”

But the issue is far from resolved, because there are also those who take the middle point. Pedro Santana of Colombia’s Via Ciudadana, for example, believes that the “autonomy (of the WSF) should be reaffirmed, but without denying its critical dialogue with political society.” He said that this is necessary “for implementing the transformations and the changes that are discussed in this arena.”

The World Social Forum was initially established as an alternative to the World Economic Forum to give space to activists, NGOs, and civil society groups to gather and share their experiences. Next year’s global meeting will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, with the right to health care as one of its central themes. It will also celebrate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade.

Sources:

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