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WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: THE UNKNOWN ALTERNATIVE
TO THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
By Jessica Tara
Smith
Every year, the world looks on in anticipation and uneasiness as over 1,000 of the world’s most powerful CEO’s from top multi-national corporations and politicians gather to discuss globalization and the international economy at the World Economic Forum.Unknown to the majority of people in industrialized nations and given no recognition in the news, another forum was being held at the same time. A congregation of 2,000 people representing 500 national and international organizations from more than 100 countries met in Porto Alegre, Brazil to host the first World Social Forum (WSF).
“What's that?” said Rahul Narayan after he was asked if he heard of the World Social Forum.
“Is it a forum where people from all over the world get together to discuss social type things?” said Michael Meyers, a Marist College student, when asked about the WSF.
The WSF is a new arena for the creation and exchange of social and economic projects promoting human rights, social justice and sustainable development was held in 2001 from January 30 to February 5.
“Well that seems like something useful,” said Narayan, a student from England. “I mean this seems like something genuine, as opposed to the WTO.”
The World Social Forum developed as a result of the growing international movement that advocates greater participation of all nations in international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), The World Bank, and the World Trade Organization (WTO). These organizations as well as those involved with the WEF have been formulating decisions that have affected the lives of people around the world and have been doing so without a clear system of democratic participation.
Unlike the WEF, the WSF was far less controversial and viewed in a far less negative way. Corporate sponsorship was notably absent, only a minimal amount of police were present and the forum received an official welcome from the local government. The World Social Forum saw very little news coverage, far less that the WEF did.
The reason being, “because no one is protesting them,” said Meyers.
“They [the news] report conflict,” Meyers said. “When people get together to work for a nice thing and no one has any objection, there's no real story there.”
The WSF is centered around the construction of a global society that focuses on people instead of financial gain or imperialism. Among the four main themes discussed at the World Social Forum were the production of wealth and social reproduction, access to wealth and sustainability, civil society and the public arena, as well as, political power and ethics in the new society.
Within the workshops, many conclusions and decisions were reached. Among the first concluded was alternatives to building a fairer world trade.
Don Keet, a participant in the workshops and South African representative of the Africa Trade Network, said that the WTO was “a regime” and a “form of global government.” He and others felt that it was necessary to question and reform the WTO because it has influenced participated in the ruin of several country’s economies.
Suggestions to reform the WTO included removing certain agreements on intellectual property, reduce their punitive power and organizing it in order to balance the weight of world power. It was suggested that the laws of international trade need to place more emphasis on people and workers as well as increase exports of items from third world countries.
The workshop concluded that free trade does not result in economic growth. The closer third world countries get to the WTO’s system, “the less they participate as export markets,” said Keet. This past decade alone, Latin America’s rate of participation in the world market has decreased from 11% to 5%, while Africa’s rate of 8% has decreased to 2%.
The deterioration of economies in countries like Argentina exemplify the inefficiency of free trade there and further demonstrate that the WTO’s policies of forcing foreign markets to adopt free trade may end with effects more devastating than thought to be.
Another conclusion reached at the forum was the call for activism against the privatization of water and for its sustainable use. This subject was brought about with the help of the Bechtel and Bolivia conflict regarding the privatization of Bolivia’s public water by the Bechtel Corporation of San Francisco. Bolivia’s Pablo Solon from the organization Fight Against Privatization of Water was among the participants to help bring more information and human interest stories into the forum.
The workshop acknowledged that water is a common good that is indispensable to humankind, and for this reason it cannot be treated as a product. They also promoted the public and sustainable management of water resources.
Unlike the WSF, the WEF started in 1971 as an exclusive, invite-only event with members over 1,000 of the world’s top CEO’s, academics, trade-ministers, heads of state, and elite media attending. Their summits permit the world’s richest and most powerful corporations to trade representatives from nations, make business deals, and determine global policies, both political and economic.
The WEF claims to be “independent, impartial, and not-for-profit, tied to no political, partisan or national interests.” It is evident there is extensive corporate sponsorship, and political influence.
Though the mission statement of the WEF is that it is “committed to improving the state of the world” the reality is that they instead meet to plan layoffs, slash education and health services, reduce wages and working conditions in non-industrial nations, degrade the environment, and assault the civil rights of all those opposing them.
Unfortunately, the fledgling World Social Forum is left to look after the human side of the global political and economic decisions that have been made by the older, enigmatic WEF.