Bamako Appeal spikes controversy

Marko Ulvila

15 February, 2006

Dear friends

I find the Bamako Appeal, and the subsequent discussion very welcome. To me the Porto Alegre statement last year and this one are similar to the work done in the assembly of social movements. The difference is that the Bamako Appeal stems from meetings of intellectuals. The more coordinated political initiatives that the open spaces of the WSF produce are better.

Like Thomas Wallgren wrote, as long as none of these joint initiatives start to represent the WSF or otherwise obtain a hegemonic position, there is scope for growth of the WSF and the related movements.

If we consider the Bamako Appeal similarly placed in the WSF process as the social movements assembly, would it not be useful to have a gathering of intellectuals in the forthcoming Social Forums, especially Karachi and Athens. And since the Bamako process was basically by older men, should we not try to gather young women intellectuals to make Karachi Appeal and Athens Appeal?