| World Social Forum and Davos at the Crossroads |
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As the ninth World Social Forum (WSF) came to a close last week in the Amazon basin, the simultaneous meeting of select business leaders and policymakers at the exclusive ski-resort of Davos, Switzerland, provided a sharp contrast between a spirit of vibrant public engagement and the mood of depression at the World Economic Forum. Against the backdrop of the global financial crisis and economic recession, news agency Bloomberg described the meeting as the "grimmest Davos ever ", which was characterised by widespread finger-pointing and high-level walk outs. While the international government and business elite attempted to "Shape the Post-Crisis World," progressive commentators criticised leaders at Davos for their failure to articulate proposals to counter dominant economic thinking based on consumer spending, debt and trade liberalisation, the very factors widely purported to be key contributing factors of the crisis. In contrast to Davos, the participants at the WSF in Brazil articulated a number of proposals to promote economic and social justice and increase democratic participation in the world economy. Among them were plans to reform the United Nations along democratic lines, to levy a tax on international financial transactions, to end speculation on commodity markets and to shift international monetary reserves away from the US dollar. Other participants suggested that energy and food sovereignty for the poor, the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, and the sovereignty of indigenous people must become a priority for governments in order to build a fairer system of global governance. A number of Latin American leaders also preferred to attend the World Social Forum instead of Davos. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolivia's Evo Morales, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, and Paraguay's Fernando Lugo all attended the event on January 29th, and together criticised the economic orthodoxy of free-market policies, deregulation, and market-led growth. Rafael Correa suggested that activists could take inspiration from Latin America as an example of alternative economic systems in practice. In his key-note speech, Correa called for an "economy for the development of the majority of people." Although widely acknowledging that the Forum has acted as a ‘broad church' for the differing views of progressive civil society groups, many analysts state that the WSF remains limited as a true agent of political change, characterised by disorganisation and a lack of coherence. Other commentators criticise the Forum for its failure to offer new proposals as well as for a perceived bias towards social democratic and progressive Christian views. Some suggested that the organisers of WSFshould harness and steer the global justice movement into the political arena. Between the competing ideologies of "Davos vs Belem", however, few denied that the WSF can successfully facilitate a significant dialogue between the Global South and civil society - a dialogue largely free from blind adherence to outmoded economic ideology. 4th February 09 - Alejandro Kirk, IPS News The World Social Forum ended its ninth edition Sunday in Belém with its "Assembly of assemblies" adopting dozens of resolutions and proposals to be the subjects of a program of mobilizations around the world in 2009.The 21 thematic assemblies thus broke the WSF seemingly taboo issue of taking common political stands, under pressure from thousands of civil society groups anxious to seize the opportunity opened by the global economic crisis to progressive change. A week of demonstrations and propagandistic actions will take place between March 28 and April 4 to press a drastic change in the world's political balance and urgent measures to stop climate change. Key target of this initiative is the summit of the G-20 group of industrial and emergent economies scheduled for April 2 in London, taking place in the midst of the deepening global economic crisis. G-20 members Argentina and Brazil, both led by progressive governments, are expected to voice WSF demands such as the disbanding or deep reform of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization. March 30, the Palestinian Day of Return to their land, is another important mark in the program, aimed at imposing a trade boycott, international sanctions and de-investment policies, to force Israel to stop military assaults against Gaza and engage in true peace negotiations. Under a slight rain at a soaked lawn in Belém's vast Federal Amazonian Rural University campus, a spokesman of the WSF's Assembly of Social Movements itemized some of the wider programmatic contents of the mobilization: Nationalization of banks; No reduction of salaries at enterprises hit by the crisis; Energy and food sovereignty for the poor; Withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq and Afghanistan; Sovereignty and autonomy for indigenous peoples; Right to land, decent work, education and health for all; Democratization of media and knowledge On October 12, day in which Spanish conquerors reached the Americas, another worldwide set of actions will honor "mother Earth" and vindicate the rights of indigenous peoples around the world. This is the closest the WSF ever got to become a global political force, a dilemma it has faced since its inception in the city of Porto Alegre, in southern Brazil, in January 2001 as a counterpart of the World Economic Forum of Davos, Switzerland. Foreign correspondents and local media have underlined the sharp contrast between the vibrant atmosphere in Belém and the somber faces of corporate bosses and Western leaders in Davos, where Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown went so far as to admit the crisis has no precedent nor any reliable forecast. The conservative newspaper Folha de São Paulo, in Brazil's financial capital, observed Sunday that while the planet might not become the "extravagant" another world dreamt of in Belém, neither will it remain the current one, "so many times optimistically celebrated by Davos." "Just like the economic ultra-liberalism, also current international decision mechanisms are being questioned. Issues so diverse as environmental imbalances, terrorism, drug-trafficking or ethnic and religious regional conflicts overwhelm the intervention capacity of one single power or the exclusive club of most developed countries," says Folha's editorial. Candido Gzrybowsky head of iBase, a Brazilian NGO, and a WSF key player, has insisted that on the one hand the crisis has proven -as it has been tacitly admitted by Western governments- that the many warnings issued by social movements over the years were right. Yet, he warned this week in Belém, while this crisis represents a historical opportunity to democratize states, economies and the international scene, if not seized it may lead to a capitalist recovery "even worse" than the fundamentalist paradigm now in pieces. While exposing different angles to achieve social justice, equality and people's participation, the presidents of Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay and Venezuela, meeting in Belém, shared this week the same persuasion: the crisis must lead to a different global set-up.Brazil's Luiz Inácio da Silva Lula put the accent on protecting working people through regulation and promoting heavy state economic investment, a statement the IMF would have reacted to with threats not long ago. President Rafael Correa of Ecuador, an economist, was bolder: the answer to the crisis is socialism, he said, through people's control of political social and economic bodies, backed by a state committed to become a decentralized channel for democratic participation.Hugo Chávez, of Venezuela, called the WSF to go on the offensive now that the centers of capitalist power seemed to be perplexed and disoriented. To organizers, the ninth World Social Forum was both a political and organizational success.In closing the event on Sunday, Gzrybowsky reported at a press conference that 115,000 participants representing social movements, NGOs or themselves had attended the gathering. On top of that, the Youth Camp received 15,000 youngsters, plus 3,000 children and teenagers. In the whole they made up 133,000, coming from 142 countries, although Brazil was by far the most represented. Being the Amazon basin the ninth WSF's main issue, the Forum was attended by 1,900 indigenous people of 190 ethnic groups and tribes, plus 1,400 "quilombolas" (descendants of runaway slaves). Participant organizations summed up 5,808, of which 4,193 from South America, 489 from Africa, 491 from Europe, 334 from Central America, 155 from North America and 27 from Australia and New Zealand. Gzrybowsky said.The Brazilian state of Pará, an active supporter of the Forum, invested 11 million dollars in infrastructure (roads, communications and sanitation), which will now benefit the community, in particular the slums surrounding the university campuses, spokeswoman Ana Claudia Cardoso said. For having many times been dismissed by media as a fading left-wing carnival of wild dreams, sex and marihuana, with no political teeth, the WSF seems to be alive and well. Its "teeth" may be the strength gained just by being together, or, in the words of Friar Betto, a Brazilian theologian, by "refilling fuel" for the year ahead. It has been said that the next WSF will take place in Africa, two years from now. By then, it is likely that present uncertainties, hopes and goals will have taken shape and course for good or bad. Competing Ideologies: Davos v. Belem 3rd February 09 - Stephen Lendman, Countercurrents Founded in 1971, the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) meets annually in Davos, Switzerland to bring together top business and political leaders as well as mostly neoliberal minded intellectuals, economists, journalists, and others. WEF calls itself "an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas." It aims for "world-class governance (read dominance)." Its motto is "entrepreneurship in the global public interest (read for the top 1%)." This year's theme - "Shaping the Post-Crisis World" - a tall order addressing what they caused that's heading the world for a calamitous depression. Its five-day 2009 meeting attracted over 2500 participants from 91 countries, including over 1170 CEOs and chairpersons from the world's most powerful companies. Others included 219 public figures, 40 heads of state, 64 cabinet ministers, and various other high-level business, government, think tank, media, academic, religious, organizational, and union officials. Noticeably different, according to Bloomberg, "was the virtual absence of Wall Street figures" as well as top Obama administration figures. Annually, Davos becomes headquarters for the world's power elite to meet and review past achievements, challenges, and prospects for greater exploitation of world markets, resources, and people everywhere. Or put another way, to use money to create more of it, for themselves, of course. Ordinarily the occasion is celebratory. Capitalism flaunts its successes and parties. This year gloom prevailed, and one topic above others took precedence: assessing the global economic crisis, its risks in the near and longer term, plotting strategies for the coming year and beyond, and avoiding an appearance of panic in an event drawing prominent media coverage. Not easy with capitalism most in crisis since the Great Depression, no one sure how to right things, and attendees like George Soros believing today's problem "is larger than in the 1930s." Bloomberg headlined the mood: "Grimmest Davos Ever Brings Anger, Finger-Pointing at Bankers," and one observer noted that "the only good news in Davos was the weather." Bloomberg added that "Almost everyone blamed the few bankers who showed up for the near-collapse of the financial system," with harshest criticism for Wall Street, the Bush administration, and Obama officials for their absence. Economist Kenneth Rogoff called this year the grimmest Davos ever. Abraaj Capital's CEO, Arif Naqvi said "People are looking for the solution, but don't yet have the question formulated." Other attendees predicted that conditions in 2010 may be no better. The Financial Times' (FT) John Gapper wrote: "This was not the week to be seen in Davos and, if you were there, it was not the time to remain calm." He cited one debate with Black Swan author Nassim Taleb saying bankers should be punished and forced to return their bonuses. He described WEF founder Klaus Schwab as "pale-faced," considering "the impossible task this year - to forge harmony out of tension" and plan how to recover. For many, Davos this year was "where the pent-up dismay and anger over what Wall Street wrought boiled to the surface" despite efforts to contain it. The stars were those who saw the crisis early and warned about it. Figures like Taleb and Nouriel Roubini who says the worst is still to come. The FT reported that "The unrelenting economic gloom and the fragility of the banking system have cast a cloud over the global agenda and (managed) to dominate discussions. Drama did as well with Turkey's prime minister Erdogan storming out after an exchange with Israel's Shimon Peres over Gaza, but there was more. Despite its absence, America dominated geopolitical and financial concerns. The Wall Street Journal reported that "The premiers of Russia and China slammed the US economic system in speeches (January 28), holding it responsible for the global economic crisis." Implying but not naming America, China's Wen Jiabao said the financial crisis was "attributable to inappropriate macroeconomic policies of some economies and their unsustainable model of development characterized by prolonged low savings and high consumption; excessive expansion of financial institutions in blind pursuit of profit." Putin, in contrast, was blunt in attacking a "unipolar world," saying it's "dangerous" to rely on the US dollar, and calling for the development of multiple, regional reserve currencies in addition to the dollar. He also mocked US businessmen who boasted last year that America's economy was strong and prospects sound. "Today," said Putin, "investment banks, the pride of Wall Street, have virtually ceased to exist," then added: "The entire economic growth system, where one regional center prints money without respite and consumes material wealth, while another regional center manufactures inexpensive goods....has suffered a major setback." US officials didn't comment but former Fed vice-chairman, Alan Blinder said: "The sad thing is that we might have scoffed at (these comments) a while ago. But we really dragged the world down" economically. "No wonder (Klaus) Schwab looked so stricken," said FT's Gapper. Davos is a secluded ski village. Protests are banned but not entirely. Dozens marched through the town and threw snowballs and shoes at Swiss police and the convention center. Among them were members of the Young Socialist and Green parties as well as Amnesty International representatives. Things were violent in Geneva where Germany's Deutsche Welle reported that "Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons at bottle-throwing demonstrators protesting against the annual World Economic Forum in Davos." AP said hundreds turned out for a largely peaceful demonstration until police "chased black-clad protesters through (Geneva's) narrow streets as shoppers took refuge in bars and cafes." Regional secretary for the trade union Unia, Alessandro Pelizzari, spoke for many in saying: "100,000 lost their jobs in Europe this week. And those responsible are in Davos." One of the protest organizers, Laurent Tettamenti, added: "The WEF is a symbol of the neoliberal policies of the last 20 years that have caused (today's) crisis. We have no confidence that the same people who caused (this) can solve it." The World Social Forum's (WSF) Alternative Vision At a time of global crisis, WSF more than ever was crucial, relevant and vital. Founded by Brazil's Ethos Institute for Business and Social Responsibility chairman Oded Grajew, it held its first meeting concurrently with WEF in late January 2001 and continues doing it annually. Its motto - "Another world is possible." Today, it's essential. WEF is "an opened space - plural, diverse, non-governmental and non-partisan - that stimulates decentralized debate, reflection, (and) proposals building. (It) experiences exchange and alliances among movements and organizations engaged in concrete actions towards....more solidarity, (and a) democratic and fair world." The first three forums were in Porto Alegre, Brazil. It moved to India in 2004, then back to Porto Alegre in 2005. In 2006, it was "polycentric" - in January in Caracas, Venezuela and Bamako, Mali, then delayed until March in Karachi, Pakistan because of the area's earthquake. In 2007, it was in Nairobi, Kenya, then in 2008, it became a Global Call for Action and Mobilization by letting thousands of autonomous organizations worldwide hold simultaneous events in dozens of countries. The 2009 forum returned to the Amazonian port city of Belem in northern Brazil, about 60 miles upriver from the Atlantic Ocean. WSF's Charter of Principles After its 2001 inaugural, WSF drafted Principles "to guide the continued pursuit of (its) initiative." Unlike predatory capitalism on display at Davos: (1) WSF "is an open meeting place for reflective thinking, democratic debate of ideas, formulation of proposals," free exchanges among participants, and formulations of collective action plans. Participants are civil society individuals, groups and organizations committed to a new society "directed towards fruitful relationships among Mankind and between it and the Earth." (2) WSF's "Another World Is Possible" theme is a "permanent process of seeking and building alternatives." (3) WSF is "a world process." (4) WSF supports global justice, democracy, human rights, equality, the "sovereignty of peoples," and opposes neoliberalism, predatory capitalism, complicit governments, and their destructive harm. (5) WSF is a civil society meeting ground, not a body representing it. (6) Forums are for participant exchanges, not to establish positions for WSF as a body or make it a "locus of power." (7) WSF facilitates and circulates ideas and decisions "without directing, hierarchizing, censuring or restricting them, but as deliberations" and decisions by Forum participants. (8) WSF is decentralized, "plural, diversified, non-confessional, non-governmental and non-party" locally and internationally "to build another world." (9) WSF is committed to "pluralism (and) diversity." Government officials who accept the Charter Principles are welcome to attend. More on that below. (10) WSF opposes totalitarianism and reductionist economic views. It stands in solidarity with all humanity in peace and harmony for a better world. (11) WSF is a Forum for debate, reflection and exchange of ideas on how to "resist and overcome" the domination of capital. (12) WSF "encourages understanding and mutual recognition (among) participant organisations and movements, and places special value on (exchanges) among them." (13) WSF aims to "strengthen and create new national and international links (to) increase the capacity for non-violent social resistance (against) dehumani(zing) the world." (14) WSF aims to have a global agenda for "building a new world in solidarity." Themes and Solidarity in Belem Over 100,000 attendees from 150 countries voiced common themes - Pan-Amazonia for the Forum's site, opposition to predatory capitalism, wars, inequality, injustice, intolerance, environmental destruction, prejudice, and elitism. For six days, hundreds of events took place in workshops, campings, seminars, conferences, speeches, testimonies, marches, cultural and artistic activities, exchanges, reflection, proposals, consensus-building for a better world, and ending with a "Day of Alliances" to decide on joint actions. In all, it was a mass coming together for a better world and an utter rejection of Davos and its ruling ethos. Latin American Leaders at Belem, Not Davos On January 29, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolivia's Evo Morales, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, and Paraguay's Fernando Lugo criticized Washington in Belem. Correa: "The guilty parties in this crisis try to give lessons on morality and good economic handling. The most powerful people on the planet have united to find a therapy for the dying. They're getting together - the central bankers, the representatives of the large financial firms, the people primarily responsible for the crisis." They caused it. Can we expect them to fix it? Correa called for a "common project," a 21st century socialism characterized by justice and efficiency, a return to state planning "for the development of the majority of the people." He also attacked US-dominated institutions like the IMF and World Bank: "Using the art of deception they will try to confuse us into thinking the victims are the guilty ones. They are the ones responsible for the crisis. They are not the ones to give us lessons." Correa should know. He's a University of Illinois-educated Ph.D in economics. Lula: the global crisis affecting Latin America wasn't caused by "the socialism of Chavez (or) the struggles of Evo (Morales)," but by wealthy Western states. It's their crisis, not ours. "And who is the god to whom they have appealed? Why, the state! (They) told us what we need in our poor countries. They thought we were incompetent." Look what they did. In attacking George Bush, he added: "The world cannot elect any more presidents that do not listen to social movements, that do not listen to the people." Lula is a former factory worker and union leader, yet far from a popular president. Outside the event, several hundred in his United Socialist Workers Party (PSTU) protested his making concessions to bankers, business and Washington, yet doing little to stabilize employment for ordinary Brazilians. Paraguay's Lugo is a former Catholic bishop and liberation theology adherent. He said his country changed "because of your movements' voices of hope" and quoted from the Guarani people's ancient aspiration that one day a "Land Without Evil" might be created. He added that "Latin America is changing and the hope is the north will change as well. We have seen the economic policies they said were so efficient fail." Evo Morales used anti-imperialist slogans in condemning American interventionism and its regional military bases. He said "Before you are four presidents - four presidents (Lula spoke separately) who could not be here were it not for your fight. I see so many brothers and sisters here, from Latin America's social movements to European figures." Hugo Chavez spoke about a new revolutionary path saying social movements have been in the "trenches of resistance" and must go on the "offensive" to create alternatives to global capitalism. "Just like Latin America and the Caribbean received the biggest dose of neoliberal venom, our continent has been the immense territory where social movements have sprouted with the greatest strength and began to change the world....another world is necessary (and) is being born in Latin America and the Caribbean. Revolutions are no longer guerrilla battalions, no! This is a new revolutionary wave....This year will be hard, we must unite. Our socialism should not be a copy. Our socialism should be a heroic creation....Socialism of our America, a profoundly democratic socialism. This is our path." For the ninth consecutive year, WSF's participants agreed that "Another World Is Possible." This year it's essential, now more than ever. Stephen Lendman is Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen(at)sbcglobal.net. 30th January 09 - Gustavo Capdevila, IPS News One of the few indicators on the rise at this time of economic and financial crisis is the level of repudiation expressed about those responsible for the disaster, and about the institutions sponsoring them. his became apparent at this eastern Swiss tourist resort, the venue for the annual sessions of the World Economic Forum (WEF), one of the arenas which has supported the deregulation policies blamed for causing the crisis. Socialist Swiss lawmaker Susanne Leutenegger was outspoken in linking the WEF with the crisis. The Davos Forum has been one of the ideological agencies behind these policies, as finance, industry and politics mingled at the Forum sessions, which started 39 years ago, she said. This was the place where contacts and informal networks were established, while politicians sat "below the salt" and the media were fascinated by the rich and powerful global élite, she continued, saying the Forum was "a fly-by-night lobby operation for the bankrupt neoliberal (free market) business model". Leutenegger was speaking at the awards ceremony of the Public Eye on Davos, organised by Swiss non-governmental organisations The Bern Declaration and Greenpeace Switzerland, where "dubious distinctions" are conferred on companies that have shamefully violated ethical and environmental principles. As a result of these awards and the political content of the prize-giving ceremonies, the Public Eye has been, since 2000, one of the most critical observers of the Davos Forum. Back then, the media were in such a frenzy about Davos that they stifled voices of critical dissent calling for a more socially responsible economy with sustainable policies, Leutenegger said. The global Public Eye award went this year to U.S. mining company Newmont, the world's largest gold producer, for its "scandalous" practices in Ghana, where it has destroyed unique natural habitats, carried out forced resettlement of local people and polluted soil and rivers, according to the jury. The "prize" for Swiss companies was awarded to BKW FMB Energy, for building a coal-fired thermoelectric plant in Germany. Coal is the most polluting of all fuels, the organisers said. In contrast, the Public Eye awarded a Positive Prize, in recognition of the efforts of Colombian trade union leaders Jairo Quiroz and Freddy Lozano and their union Sintracarbón to reverse the decision of a transnational coal mining company that had displaced 800 Afro-descendant families to expand their operations in El Cerrejón, in northeastern Colombia. In fact, the negative awards target two companies that epitomise the social and environmental abuses committed by all the members of the WEF and by large corporations that are the true image of profit motivated globalisation, the organisers of the Public Eye said. The Bern Declaration and Greenpeace sent a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday, asking him to introduce corporate regulation now. So far, efforts to impose mandatory international corporate accountability rules on transnational corporations have failed because of opposition from the United States, they said. The message to Obama requests that in future, all transnational company projects respect the rights of local communities in their area of operations. It also asks for an end to impunity for companies that violate the rules. The two organisations want the Public Eye to become a rallying point for all critics of the Davos Forum, said Oliver Classen of The Bern Declaration. The Swiss authorities also came in for criticism for their financial support for the WEF. The Forum is a private meeting, but the Swiss government subsidises it to the tune of eight million Swiss francs (seven million dollars), mostly for security services, Leutenegger said. She estimated that total spending by the Swiss state on the Davos Forum amounted to some 20 million Swiss francs (17.6 million dollars). Police from several Swiss cantons and some 5,000 army soldiers are deployed during the week of WEF sessions, while the national air force, in conjunction with that of Austria, secure the air space over Davos. Leutenegger said that street protests against the Davos Forum are for the most part prohibited. The rights to free speech and free association are practically suspended throughout the country during the WEF, she emphasised. A demonstration against the Davos Forum, convened by leftwing political and social organisations for Saturday in Geneva, has been banned by the authorities. Leutenegger remarked that the neoliberal revolution appears to have failed dismally worldwide, and now its "shameless promoters" want to get free money from the state. However, the Davos Forum, a successful instigator of that economic model, is doing very well, the lawmaker said. According to her estimates, the world's top 1,000 companies, members of the WEF, contribute some 40 million Swiss francs (over 35 million dollars) annually to the Forum. In total, including the special contributions from financial companies and the fees paid by Forum participants, the WEF, which operates in Switzerland as a charitable foundation, has an annual income of about 100 million Swiss francs (88 million dollars). Leutenegger also rebuked the left and trade unions for failing to apply the necessary pressure to contain the forces that precipitated the crisis. Fundamental discussion is needed, especially among the left, trade unions and social movements, about building a post-capitalist system and putting it into practice, she concluded. 'World Social Forum Had a Prophetic Voice' 3rd February 09 - Al Jazeera Walden Bello has attended every World Social Forum. He is a senior analyst at Focus on Global South, president of the Freedom from Debt Coalition and a professor at the University of the Philippines. As the WSF was winding down in Belem in Brazil, Al Jazeera's Gabriel Elizondo spoke with Bello about his thoughts on this year's meeting. Al Jazeera (AJ): How has the 2009 World Social Forum differed from those in previous years? Bello: This represents the triumph of the World Social Forum over the World Economic Forum. Basically I think that what the forum has been standing for is the strong critique of neo-liberalism and warning the world of the kinds of difficulties neo-liberalism was bringing to the world.And I think that now this economic crisis has really shown that we had a prophetic voice. A consistent voice of critique that was being put forward. And what has happened now is in fact the sum of our fear, but at the same time I think that the WSF held out a hope; a hope that there could be a different world from the kind of neo-liberal capitalism world that Davos represented. And I think that people are now looking to the World Social Forum more than ever for the kinds of alternatives that we need, to be able to restructure the world now that neo-liberalism has failed, now that capitalism is in severe crisis, now that the whole system has lost its legitimacy. This voice that thousands here have represented now is a voice that is going to be heard all around the world as articulating the possibility of a different world. AJ: How do you respond to people who say the World Social Forum does not provide any solutions? I think there are a number of very strong themes that have emerged over the last few years. One is that there must be strong controls and regulations over the market. We have consistently held that belief. Two, that globalisation was creating a very fragile world and that we needed to be able to make more independent economies, to make internal markets the drivers of development, rather then the global market. Also that we needed controls on transnational corporations. We have always held that democracy was very central. That economic democracy, that participatory democracy, enterprises, at the level of economic decision making, people should be able to intervene and make decision on what kind of industries should be developed. Democracy, equity, the globalisation, regulation: these are all the ideas that we have stood for. We have always said we did not stand for any one model. This uni-model line of thinking was one of the problems and we have basically said that the way that the principles of an economy would be put together would be different in different countries.And so I think that the people who said we have nothing to offer have not listened to what we have been saying all along. AJ: Is this the year the World Social Forum could be seen as an equal partner in the exchange of ideas to the World Economic Forum? I think we have been in a struggle with Davos for the last 9 years. And I think this represents a triumph of the World Social Forum over Davos. And I think these are two very different kinds of forums. Here is where ordinary people, citizens, people that are marginalised come. This is a search for alternatives from below.And Davos has represented the failure of the kind of the neo-liberal, technocratic, market driven, corporate driven, politics from above. So I think that Davos is exhausted, it is dead, and the World Social Forum and related forums represent the areas where we should really be looking for alternatives at this point in time. And I think any peoples in government and other sectors are going to look at the kinds of things being discussed at the WSF, because the formulas from Davos no longer work. |
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