H07268
Headlines : InternationalWorld Social Forum: Time to Walk the Talk?
Participants in the World Social Forum debate politics, activism, and action. Is an “offensive phase” in the works?
Last year’s WSF witnessed the emergence of a “hard line” in favour of strengthening the activist aspect of the event, when two of the Forum’s founders, Emir Sader of Brazil and Samir Amin of Egypt, urged participating intellectuals to adopt a manifesto calling for concrete actions and a more clear-cut political stance.
[Posted By ShiftShapers]Republished from IPS via InfoShop News
CARACAS – The debate on whether the World Social Forum (WSF) should remain merely a space for reflection and protest or should move on to proposals for concrete action once again emerged at the sixth edition of the annual global civil society meet, taking place in the Venezuelan capital this week.
The discussion on moving “from protests to proposals” began last year at the fifth edition of the Forum, in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, where the WSF was first held in 2001.
The social movements “emerged as a tool of defence against imperialism. But a change has occurred, because now they have moved into an offensive phase,” said Jacobo Torres, with the Bolivarian Workers Force, a Venezuelan trade union that supports leftist President Hugo Chávez.
As part of the offensive, which also involves the current wave of centre-left or leftist governments in Latin America, Torres mentioned “the consolidation of a common space for grassroots groups to meet up.” He was not only talking about the annual WSF gatherings, but also the “people’s summits” held in opposition to the periodic Summits of the Americas.
The debate on whether or not the Forum should move towards action is taking place this week in…
Posted by ShiftShapers
Warning: Anyone who takes this blog seriously will be shot. Anyone who does not take it seriously will be buried alive by a Mitsubishi bulldozer. Welcome to (A)utonomous Resistance, GNN’s exclusive one-stop infoshop for radical resources and information....
RELATED ITEMS
- Venezuela: Anarchists and the Caracas Alternative Social Forum - January 2006
Posted by ShiftShapers on Wednesday, November 16th 2005 - Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Chavism and Anarchism, But Were Afraid to Ask
Posted by ShiftShapers on Tuesday, January 17th 2006 - Evo Morales and the Zapatistas: Latin America's Indians on the Move... in Different Directions
Posted by ShiftShapers on Friday, January 20th 2006 - Venezuela's Anti-Authoritarian Path
Posted by ShiftShapers on Wednesday, December 28th 2005 - Will Morales Sell Out (Like Lula)?
Posted by ShadowUnit on Thursday, December 29th 2005 - Evo Morales, Communitarian Socialism and the Regional Power Block
Posted by kallawaya on Monday, January 16th 2006 - Bolivia: Why Evo Morales is no answer
Posted by RebeldePorLaPAZ on Monday, January 2nd 2006 - Evo: Bolivia's First Indigenous President
Posted by OCoileain on Monday, December 19th 2005 - The Rise of the Left in Latin America
Posted by atrain on Monday, December 19th 2005 - In the Footsteps of Che Guevara: Democracy in South America
Posted by Ryz on Saturday, December 17th 2005 - How an Election in Bolivia Could Hurt Big Business
Posted by ShadowUnit on Wednesday, December 21st 2005 - Bolivia: Race and Revolution
Posted by ShiftShapers on Thursday, December 29th 2005
The WSF is being reported in the U.S. as an anti-war/anti-globalization pep rally, presided over by Chavez and resulting in his endorsement of Sheehan’s notion of running for Senate, against Feinstein.
Glad you picked up this article for us, Shift. It would be something to see the WSF develop a more effective position in the information war.
NAM contributor Roberto Lovato reports on the World Social Forum in Caracas, “where more than 60,000 people, half of them from outside Venezuela, have gathered for the annual event. His impressions will be posted throughout the week.”
The first entry doesn’t touch on the WSF itself, but it’s worth checking out.