Another article from the August issue of Le Dipló which can also be browsed online:
http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/2000/08/03chomsky
DEFYING THE WORLD
Davos? No, Porto Alegre
The organizers of the World Economic Forum, who every winter get together
the great and good of global finance and the multinationals (1) in the Swiss
resort of Davos, are not sectarian. They have always made sure they invited a
selection of intellectuals, artists and researchers, and even trade unionists, to
their debates, along with political leaders. These two categories of participants
each have a precise function: the first lot are there to give a bit of cultural and
social polish, even soul, to a gathering dedicated to the pursuit of profit; the
second, ministers and presidents, are most of them there to show allegiance to
the new masters of the universe.
In 2001 Davos will have a rival that is far more representative of the real
world: the World Social Forum (WSF). This will meet on the same dates
(25-30 January), but in the southern hemisphere, at Porto Alegre in Brazil.
The people invited there will be noticeably different from those at Davos:
union leaders, officials from different foundations, NGOs and associations,
representatives of citizen's networks and grass roots movements (dealing with
cultural, ecological, feminist, human rights concerns, etc.) from every
continent. In short, not just those who were in Seattle or could have been, but
many others, too: representatives of small and medium-sized businesses from
the South which have been eaten into by globalization, churches, elected
representatives of local and national concerns. There will be 2,000 to 3,000
participants, all reflecting the aspirations of their respective societies.
The WSF will be a place for exchanges and debates on the big choices ahead
for mankind - economic, social, cultural, scientific, technological and political -
but, unlike Davos, they will be looked at from a civic perspective, that is to
say from the point of view of ordinary people, not bankers (1). The
intellectuals and creative people invited there will not be there just for
decoration: they will be intervening in their own right. Everyone will be able to
see what is taking place by way of an emerging, worldwide counter power.
And the Davos ministers will have a chance to see that there are other actors
in international public life.
It is not by chance that the first World Social Forum is taking place at Porto
Alegre, capital of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city and, since
the 1998 elections, the state government have introduced forms of
participatory democracy that many countries are studying closely. These
initiatives show, in a modest way, that another world really is possible.
I.R.
(1) The WSF will have an organising committee bringing together big Brazilian
unions and associations, as well as an international support committee. See:
http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/
Juan Carlos Garelli, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Early Development
http://attachment.org.ar
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