SPECIAL ISSUE ON THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM

 

FOCUS ON TRADE
NUMBER 136, JANUARY 2008
Part 1

http://www.focusweb.org/focus-on-trade-number-136-january-2008.html?Itemid=1

Saturday 26 January is the World Social Forum Global Day of Action
(http://www.wsf2008.net/). More than 600 actions and events are being
planned on or close to the day, in every continent; they range from
defening housing rights in Omsk in Siberia and protesting anti-military
bases actions in Aotearoa/New Zealand to dozens of local social forums,
protests, gatherings and celebrations of resistance.

The decision of the WSF international council to call for a day of
action is an experiement and a risk, but it also reflects the sincere
efforts of everyone involved to maintain the innovation and dynamism of
the WSF process.

In this two-part issue of Focus on Trade, we are reflecting on the
future direction of the WSF. In advance, I apologise for the gender-bias
in this issues and would welcome contributions to the debate, especially
from women.

In the Part I, we  have republished an article by Walden Bello that
appeared in Focus on Trade #129 in 2007. At that time, Bello's question
that perhaps it was time for the WSF to “pack up its tent” provoked many
reactions and the authors of the following articles – Thomas Ponniah,
Jai Sen and Chico Whitaker -- take this as a reference in their
response. In the final article, IPS – which has always been an active
participants in the WSF – interviews Bello about the future of the WSF.

Part II is a longer reflection by Boaventura de Sousa Santos which
places the WSF phenomenon is a broader historical and theoretcial
context, investigating the significance of the WSF for the global left.

And by the way, it's not only the WSF that is looking for new
strategies: speaking about the World Economic Forum, PepsiCo chief
executive and co-chair of this year's event, Indra Nooyi said that Davos
is  “... all potential power, meaning it’s static power. You have to
unleash it.” She went on,  “It’s great for discussion, it’s great for
sharing the results of research, but I think we have to move from
discussion to decision.” Does that sound familiar?

Finally, all of us at Focus on the Global South send our greetings and
solidarity to the thousands of activists who have been working towards
the Global Day of Action and we wish you great success.

 

**************************************************

PART 1:
THE FORUM AT THE CROSSROADS
Walden Bello

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE US SOCIAL FORUM:
A REPLY TO THE DEBATE ON THE OPEN SPACE
Thomas  Ponniah

IS THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM APPROACHING A POINT OF CRISIS ?
A NOTE TOWARDS A DEBATE ON THE WSF GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION
Jai Sen

ANSWERING CACIM’S CALL FOR AN WSF EVALUATION
Chico Whitaker

IPS INTERVIEWS WALDEN BELLO ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE WSF.

PART 2:
THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM AND THE GLOBAL LEFT
Boaventura de Sousa Santos

*************************************************