World Social Forum – The time to act is now
Percy Makombe

The World Social Forum (WSF 2004) was for the first time since its inception in 2001 held in Asia. That the WSF was taken to India in January this year meant that the Forum ceased to be a Latin-American-European Affair. And there are indications that the Forum will head to Africa in 2006. That is as it should be.

For those who believe in numbers, the Forum has not been short of increasing figures. In 2001 it had 20 000 participants, 2002 recorded 50 000, the following year had a whooping 100 000 while this year reports indicate that 150 000 people attended the Forum in India. By any account these are good figures, for when the future of the human race is in jeopardy there is no better way to deal with problems than to start by galvanising public opinion.

Yet the WSF is not just a numbers game for even if only a few hundred people attended its sessions it would still have significance. Nor is the Forum a geographic affair that can just gain legitimacy by being moved from one region to the other. Nothing beats the WSF as a space for discussion and debate. Nothing rivals the Forum as a space for education. The greatest achievement of the WSF is its ability to articulate the public voice especially in an era when economic globalisation is presented as inevitable.

The WSF has in its short time of existence been able to foster a culture of public debate on divergent issues from democracy, human rights and peace to environment, modernity, gender and trade. It provides an open space for discussing alternatives to neo-liberalism, its slogan proudly proclaims that, “Another World is Possible.”

While the curtain was coming down on the WSF, the World Economic Forum (WEF) was beginning its meeting in Davos to strategise on how to further open up markets. WEF has always said that there is no alternative to economic globalisation. Preachers of economic globalisation in WEF believe that the future of the world economy lies in giving transnational corporations a free reign in deciding what is good for national economies.

WEF is assisted in articulating its policies by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation. These structures transform WEF policy into action. The World Social Forum has no such structures. In fact, the WSF does not even issue political statements. It is guided by the belief that political action should be the responsibility of individual organisations. It is against this background that organisers of the WSF have shied away from issuing declarations supporting any one political process. Yet no one can stand apart from political action, because even to say that you are apolitical is to utter a political statement.

The World Social Forum is against neo-liberal policies. It issues clear and unequivocal statements/declarations opposing any programme or action that seeks to promote neo-liberalism. True there are divergent voices in the WSF, but what unites these groups is more than what divides them. Legitimate concerns have been raised about the problems associated with issuing declarations that purport to represent the WSF views. The question has been raised on who has the right to issue a declaration on behalf of WSF's multitude social movements. This is a valid concern and perhaps the way to deal with it is to come up with internal procedures for consensus building. It has also been suggested by others that to be more effective and to help with consensus building, the WSF should become a delegate event. This means that rather than the over 100 000 people who attend the Forum it would be attended by maybe 10 000 people who have been selected by regional forums. It is not going to be an easy thing trying to come up with mechanisms for popular will formation but we must begin from somewhere.

The WSF might not have the benefit of such instruments like IMF, WB and WTO to support its policies, but it has the people. When the peoples of the world stand up for themselves, they can persuade their leaders to take them seriously. The crisis of international capitalism has shown that we need an alternative development paradigm.

Transnational corporations continue to run and manage the international monetary system. This way they are able to define the terms of trade and impose these terms on developing countries generally and Africa in particular. Thus long term development is ignored and emphasis is shifted to short-term demands of dealing with things like balance of payments. The IMF then comes in and calls for reduction in spending on social services if it is to support the affected country.

Development can never be development if it is not for the people. Where there is no response to people's needs we cannot talk of development. The WSF must continue to expose the fraud in the present international economic system. The current economic system where development is made hostage to free trade is untenable. The way forward for Africa is a gradual and systematic disengagement from the current model of economic order that is driven by purely commercial interests. This disengagement is with a view to re-linking with the rest of the world when Africa is united and stronger. This is long term. In the short term we need to delay the process of further intergration so that we have time to reflect. This means that delaying and even refusing to continue with Cotonou and WTO negotiations. It also means we should only accept external expertise and resources only when the local is inadequate or does not exist.

The world today is confronted with many problems which have resulted in million conferences and seminars on development. True positive ideas have come from these, but we cannot prevaricate any more. We cannot skirt the issues by trying to be politically correct. The time to act is now. The WSF because of its popular support, massive organisation and intellectual strength can provide the leadership needed to another world. A world where there is justice and equity. A fair world where the concerns of peoples of the world are not subordinated to corporate profits. A world where transnational corporations are not allowed to wreak havoc in peoples lives. As the slogan of the WSF goes: Another World is Possible.

Percy Makombe is the Assistant Editor of SEATINI Bulletin.

This article is sourced from the latest edition of the SEATINI Bulletin. Produced by SEATINI Director and Editor: Y. Tandon; Advisor on SEATINI: B. L. Das,
Assistant Editor: Percy F. Makombe
Editorial Board: Chandrakant Patel, Jane Nalunga, Riaz Tayob, Percy Makombe and Yash Tandon
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