The World Social Forum in Search of Itself
Solana Larsen
25 - 1 - 2006
The World Social Forum pioneered new forms of global activism and democracy. Now it is being pressed to take the shape of an older politics, reports Solana Larsen in Caracas.
When 100,000 optimistic activists get together in one of the most colourful and dynamic events the world has ever seen, you've got to expect a good deal of music and dancing, clapping and stomping. But as the sixth World Social Forum slowly unravels, first in Bamako, Mali and now in Caracas, Venezuela, there is also a great deal of frustration over the fact that "nothing" seems to be coming out of this enormous effort.
Certainly, the world is still a terrible mess, and many of the participants of the forum – or in most cases the people they represent – live in extreme poverty and face early deaths. Neoliberal capitalism is still king, and in spite of victories across South America especially, the global left still has less impact that their counterparts at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland who are also gathering this week. Read More
Has the World Social Forum lost its way? And is the World Economic Forum more than an elite club? openDemocracy follows the arguments, in the OD Blogs
 | This article originally appeared on openDemocracy.net under a Creative Commons licence. To view the original article, please click http://www.opendemocracy.net/globalization-world/wsf_3211.jsp. |
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