The Times they are
A-Changing
World Social Forum As Alternative to
Davos
The 3,000 or so Chief Executive Officers
and government officials who converged on
the small town of Davos in Switzerland for
the annual gathering of the World Economic
Forum (WEF) in January must be getting the
message by now. An oppressive police
presence in Davos may have prevented all
but a few hundred people from reaching the
WEF’s conference centre, but it couldn’t
silence the 15,000 people
invited
to
demonstrate at the first parallel, local
government-sponsored World Social Forum in
Brazil. A real, coordinated and worldwide
movement dedicated to finding fair and
sustainable alternatives to neoliberal
economic globalization is rapidly
developing.
FoEI’s focus on the impacts of trade,
investment and corporations and our
extensive international network meant that
we were able to take part in both events.
We did demonstrate in Davos with our "fat
cats" action, although this proved to be
one of the few light-hearted moments during
the WEF (see article this issue). With the
organizers of the mass demonstration
refusing to rule out violence, the local
authority banned demonstrations, police
were shipped in from all over Switzerland
and the army was on standby. Because FoEI
opposes violence - whether by
demonstrators, police or multinationals -
we also stayed away. In the end, the event
in Davos was mainly peaceful, but some
demonstrators did report being attacked and
beaten by police.
The World Social Forum in Brazil was
light years away from all this. Thousands
of participants from all over the world
came together to oppose neoliberalism and
promote alternatives. The WSF clearly
demonstrated that opposition to the current
unfair and unsustainable economic system is
united, organized, informed, peaceful and
global.
Particularly memorable moments included
a joyful demonstration organized by the
extremely progressive local government,
accompanied by sympathetic and friendly
police; seeing the French trade minister
engaged in a lively debate about
agriculture with hundreds of peasant
farmers from all over the world; and
watching FoE Middle East participate in the
closing ceremony with Israeli and
Palestinian campaigners laying a
beautifully carved and decorated stone
together.
The WSF was set up by an alliance of
groups including, in particular, the local
government in Porto Alegré. The purpose of
the Forum was to crystallise those
disparate groups campaigning against
neoliberal economic globalization; some
5,000 people participated in the workshops
and plenaries and 15,000 took part in the
main demonstration. There were 16 major
plenaries and somewhere in the region of
400 workshops.
FoEI had a strong delegation with about
30 participants from Latin America, Europe
and the Middle East. We are fortunate
enough to have an excellent group actually
based in Porto Alegré who made all the
arrangements. We held workshops on the
social and environmental impacts of trade,
ecological debt, international financial
institutions and sustainable economies.
The World Social Forum was a very
special event. It was the first formal
gathering of a mass movement explicitly
opposing the current economic paradigm. The
Forum will take place at the same time next
year and momentum will continue to build.
Fat cats take note, the times they are
a-changing!
Ronnie Hall,
FoE England, Wales
and Northern Ireland
