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Another world is possible: the evolution of the World Social Forum and its contribution to global justice struggles.(global south rising)
"Another World Is Possible" is the theme of the World Social Forum (WSF)--an idea that inspires activists across the globe to come together each year to share experiences and strategies for change. The WSF, as stated by its Secretariat, "is an open meeting place where groups and movements of civil society opposed to neoliberalism and a world dominated by capital or by any form of imperialism ... come together to pursue their thinking, to debate ideas democratically, formulate proposals, share their experiences freely and network for effective action."
The WSF's opposition to neoliberalism and imperialism make it an extremely valuable political space for U.S. activists who want to better understand the impact of multinational corporations, powerful industrialized countries, and global economic institutions on peoples of the world through the eyes of activists--particularly from the global South--confronting their policies head-on.
History of the Forum
The original impetus behind the WSF was to develop a counterweight to the World Economic Forum where heads of state gather with leaders of Fortune 500 corporations to plan and coordinate the advance of a corporate-driven model of global development. The World Social Forum is a space created for activists to critique this neoliberal economic development, and to craft alternative social and economic visions.
In early 2000 Brazilian social leaders met with representatives from ATTAC France and Le Monde Diplomatique and other European activists to discuss this alternative forum. They then pulled in key Brazilian NGOs and social movements, including IBASE, ABONG, the CUT (Brazilian trade union movement) and the MST (the Brazilian peasant farmer movement) to form an organizing committee that hosted the first WSF gathering in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2001.
Participation at the WSF is broad and diverse, including peasant farmers and landless peoples, trade unionists from across the globe, students, indigenous peoples, journalists, economists, large social movement ,and NGO networks, such as the international anti-WTO network Our World Is Not For Sale, and hundreds of NGO's large and small. The first WSF drew 20,000 participants, the second gathering drew 60,000, and the third upwards of 100,000.
A Gigantic Teach-In
- World Social Forum and irruption of the poor.(Back Burner)(Fourth World Social...
- Magazine article from: Catholic New Times Renshaw, Richard February 29, 2004 700+ words
...year, India hosted the Fourth World Social Forum and in so doing, utterly transformed...gathered in Mumbai for the first World Social Forum held outside Latin America...World Social Forums. The first World Social Forum grew out of a conversation...
- Another World Is Possible.(World Social Forum)
- Magazine article from: International Peace Update Margaret, Jen March 22, 2004 700+ words
...t sure that heading to Mumbai to attend the World Social Forum--with 100,000 participants, hundreds...passionate about social justice. Background to the World Social Forum The World Social Forum developed as a response to the growing international...
- Another world is possible: learning from the grassroots at the U.S. Social...
- Magazine article from: Sojourners Magazine Mathewson, Colin September 1, 2007 700+ words
...negotiations in 1999, the first World Social Forum (WSF) convened in Porto Alegre...ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] The World Social Forum--timed to balance the media...widespread public ignorance of the World Social Forum, exacerbated by lackluster...
- International Tobacco Treaty Seen as Model For Curbing Corporate Abuses at...
- Press release article from: PR Newswire January 16, 2004 700+ words
...tens of thousands of activists gather at the World Social Forum, the effort to implement the Framework Convention...awareness of and support for the FCTC at the World Social Forum. "The World Social Forum is predicated on the belief that another world...
- "Otro Mundo Es Posible": women power in the VI Caracas World Social Forum and...
- Magazine article from: Journal of International Women's Studies Kasinsky, Renee April 1, 2007 700+ words
...of a Boston delegate at the World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuela in January...Es Posible". Keywords: VI World Social Forum/Caracas, Feminism, participatory...the Boston delegation to the World Social Forum in Caracas who shared information...
- Q&A: FOUNDER OF IPS SHARES THOUGHTS ON WORLD SOCIAL FORUM.
- News wire article from: Interpress Service January 10, 2008 700+ words
...among the best-informed insiders at the World Social Forum. He has been on its international committee...recently spoke with IPS about the future of the World Social Forum. IPS: The World Social Forum is an anti-globalization movement, using...
- Meanwhile, in another world; The World Social Forum.(Does the World Social...
- Magazine article from: The Economist (US) February 9, 2002 700+ words
...McDonald's restaurant and wrecked a multinational's plantation of genetically-modified crops. This year's World Social Forum, an anti-establishment counterpoint to the World Economic Forum in New York, was both more crowded--51...
- China eyes Africa; the new imperialism?(OIL FRONTIERS)(World Social...
- Magazine article from: Multinational Monitor Bello, Walden January 1, 2007 700+ words
...is driving our small and medium entrepreneurs to bankruptcy," Humphrey Pole-Pole of the Tanzanian Social Forum said at the World Social Forum (WSF), held in Nairobi in January. "You don't even contribute to employment because you bring...
