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Th e World and US Social Forums : A Better World Is Possible and Necessary Th e World and US Social Forums: A Better World Is Possible and Necessary Edited b y Judith Blau and Marina Karides LEIDEN • BOSTON 2008 Originally published, in part, as Volume 3, No. 1 (2008) of Brill’s journal Societies Without Borders. Th is book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Th e world and US social forums : a better world is possible and necessary / edited by Judith Blau and Marina Karides. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-16769-8 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. World Social Forum. 2. Social movements--International cooperation. 3. Anti-globalization movement--International cooperation. 4. International economic relations. 5. Democracy. 6. Globalization-- Social aspects. I. Blau, Judith R., 1942- II. Karides, Marina. III. Title. HN18.3.W664 2008 306.209172’4--dc22 2008018901 ISBN 978-90-04-16769-8 Copyright 2008 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, Th e Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to Th e Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands Contents Preface : Why Write about the World Social Forum ....................... vii Immanuel Wallerstein Introduction .................................................................................. 1 Marina Karides and Judith Blau PART I SOCIAL FORUM PROCESS: THE USSF AND ITS RELATION TO THE WSF 1. In Defense of World Social Forum VII ..................................... 7 Marina Karides and Th omas Ponniah 2. Th e US Social Forum: Building from the Bottom Up ............... 21 Michael Leon Guerrero 3. New Politics Emerging at the US Social Forum ........................ 41 Jackie Smith, Rachel V. Kutz-Flamenbaum, Christopher Hausmann 4. Another United States Is Happening: Building Today’s Movement from the Bottom Up. Th e United States Social Forum and Beyond .................................................................... 57 Walda Katz-Fishman and Jerome W. Scott 5. A Different (Kind of) Politics Is Possible: Conflict and Problem(s) at the USSF ............................................................ 71 Michal O sterweil PART II DEBATES A ND S OCIAL THOUGHT: HIGHLIGHTING THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM 6. Reading Nairobi: Place, Space, and Difference at the 2007 World Social Forum ........................................................ 93 Janet Co nway vi 7. Is the World Social Forum the Privileged Space for Reinventing Labor as a Global Social Movement? .................. 117 Peter Waterman 8. Is the World Social Forum a Democratic Global Civil Society? 131 Stellan Vinthagen 9. Social Forums – Challenges and New Perspectives .................. 149 Chico Whitaker PART III BRIDGING ACTIVISM AND ACADEMICS 10. Reformist Reforms, Non-Reformist Reforms and Global Justice: Activist, NGO and Intellectual Challenges in the World Social Forum ............................................................... 157 Patrick Bo nd 11. Feminists and the Forum: Is It Worth the Effort? ................... 173 Lyndi H ewitt 12. Sociology, Human Rights, and the World Social Forum ......... 191 Mark F rezzo 13. Another Structure of Knowledge Is Possible: Th e Social Forum Process and Academia ................................................. 205 Steven S herman 14. World Social Forum: Re-imaging Development and the Global South beyond the Neo-colonial Gaze .......................... 223 Eunice N. Sahle Notes on Contributors .................................................................. 239 Index ............................................................................................. 245 Preface: Why Write about the World Social Forum Th is book has two audiences, in some ways rather different audiences. One audience is that of persons who have been involved at some level in the processes of the World Social Forum (WSF), and who are debating its merits and its limitations, in the hope of making it more effective and relevant to the issues of global justice and equality which are its raison d’être. Th e second audience is all those persons not yet involved in the processes of the WSF but who might be sympathetic with its purposes and hopes, and are seeking a clearer picture of what has been going on and what might go on in the future. Th e remarkable things about this book is that it succeeds in talking to both audiences at once. A reader cannot fail to notice how different the articles in this book are – in their focus, in their emphases, in their degree of optimism or reticence, in their vision of what the World Social Forum has been up to now. Th at is not accidental. It is an accurate reflection of the process about which the authors are writing. Th e WSF is an “open space.” Th is has been the central organizational principle of its existence. Th is principle has been a contested one. Th ere are many persons active in the WSF who are not sure this is the best way to organize the WSF. But up to now, the principle has prevailed. So, whether or not one thinks it is a good idea, it remains a reality. An open space is almost by definition somewhat chaotic – or at least not tightly organized. Th e participants come from an incredible variety of organizations – in terms of geographic location, primary area of concern (environment, labor, feminism, etc.), level of organization (international, national, local), inter- nal structure (NGO, social movement). Inevitably this means they also vary in their basic political outlooks. Th ey are unified only in their stated commitment to be against neoliberal globalization and imperialism in all its forms. Th ey all claim to believe that “another world is possible.” What is the point of an open forum? Th e first and most basic point is to be very inclusive of all groups that are struggling for global justice and equality. Th e second point is to make it more possible that all of these groups learn about each other, learn from each other, and if possible as a viii consequence create networks of social and political action that might not otherwise exist. Th e third point is to create a rumbling force that will grow worldwide and thereby have a major impact on the transformation of the world in this period of transition from our existing highly unequal, highly polarized capitalist world-system to some other kind of world that will be more democratic and more egalitarian and not to a still worse system (a real possibility that we must always bear in mind). When one reads these essays, one sees that it is not at all easy to main- tain the vitality and encourage the growth of a space as structurally loose as the WSF. But one also sees that so far, despite all the problems that author after author elucidates, the WSF has been growing in numbers and vitality and that the so-called WSF process has been a remarkable achieve- ment. For one thing, although there has been grumbling from many quar- ters, there have not been any destructive divisions. For another thing, the WSF has shown itself capable of learning about itself. My first contact with the WSF was in 2002, and my most recent in 2007. I can attest that the WSF of 2007 was different in significant ways from that of 2002, and in almost every way the changes have been an improvement. Th is process of self-learning has been one of the things that has held the WSF together, and turned most participants into activists who wish to improve the WSF rather than leave it. What can those people who have not yet been involved in the WSF process learn from this book? Th ey can learn that the WSF process is an exciting and for the most part a fulfilling adventure of the spirit. And they can perhaps learn how, when, and where they can insert themselves into the process. So the book thereby becomes a pedagogical tool, a basis for discussion and debate, a stimulus to social and political action. In the world struggle for global justice and equality, the WSF has been the only game in town in recent years. Were it to disappear tomorrow, for any reason, it is hard to see what would replace it. And we would all feel the loss. So that is the last lesson of this book. We all need to throw our- selves into the efforts to build upon what has been useful and successful in the WSF process and seek to find the ways in which the efforts to learn from the errors can lead to remolding the WSF process into one that is still more useful and successful. Immanuel Wallerstein Introduction Marina Karides and Judith Blau You can’t blame the youth, You can’t fool the youth, You can’t blame the youth of today You can’t fool the youth You teach the youth about Christopher Columbus And you said he was a very great man — Peter Tosh, Can’t Blame the Youth (1972) “Th e time is now!” is a well-spoken phrase especially applicable to a US audience just learning about the World Social Forum (WSF) and the social forums that have sprouted up around the world. Th e first United States Social Forum (USSF) has been marked as one of the most momentous occasions in recent US political history; those who attended can attest to the power that filled the streets of Atlanta, GA during the opening march in the summer of 2007. Globalization, global restructuring, corporate or global or finance capi- talism, post-fordism, post-modernism, the global assembly line – terms and phrases that all refer to more or less the same thing, the increasing economic, cultural, social and political exchange between nations over the last thirty years.

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