Thesis by Dan Morrison
More information and the full text of the thesis available from danmorrison24@hotmail.com

Central Thesis Argumentation

The Intercontinental Youth Camp developed in relation to the World Social Forum from 2001 to 2005. It has been a creative effort by resident campers to turn a space for temporary living into a social world of alternative practices to challenge daily life under neoliberal globalization. Drawing upon transnational and locally-based forms of activism, organizers moved beyond the Forum's discussion of alternatives to an implementation of them in practice. The IYC's central imaginary of horizontal self-management and its laboratory of experimental practices were largely shaped by Camp organizers and key volunteering onsite. The WSF and local political conditions were also crucial in influencing the evolution of the Camps.

The IYC process has not lived up to its imaginaries. Organizers often exercised more hierarchical than horizontal leadership, thereby undermining their stated principles. The time spent camping together was short, many residents were more interested in apolitical partying than in social change, and there were incidents of anti-social behaviour. Nevertheless, the IYC has produced much learning about experimental social activism, the politics of collective self-management, and the celebration of spontaneous cultural expression.