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The World Social Forum and the Bamako Appeal: Yes, but no
NIGD News and Notes Double Issue June-July 2006
In this issue:
I. Gendering the WSF Nairobi 2007 process
II. The World Social Forum and the Bamako Appeal: Yes, but no
III. Inside 'Asia's Killing Fields'
IV. World Vote Field Test
V. Rendezvous with NIGD
I. Gendering the WSF Nairobi 2007 process
by Onyango Oloo
The author, a member of the WSF 2007 Secretariat, extensively addresses
Gender and the WSF Open Space process, concluding his critical text
with: "When one looks at the gender dynamics informing the WSF 2007
process, one is filled with optimism and left brimming with hope. This
despite the parlous panorama painted in the preceding section; this
despite the unflattering global audit of power relations between women
and men around the world."
2. Librarians to cover the Nairobi WSF 2007
by Mikael Böök
Librarians have a professional role to play in the WSF process, both as
citizens and in their role as information specialists. Mikael Böök
provides an overview of a training programme to prepare East African
librarians for participation in the World Social Forum 20-25 January
2007.
3.
The Intercontinental Youth Camp 2001-2005: Linking Open Space
Activism,the World Social Forum, and Imaginaries for Alternative Worlds
by Dan Morrison
The Intercontinental Youth Camp is a creative effort to turn a space
for temporary living into a social world of alternative practices
challenging daily life under neoliberal globalisation; it is an
expression of experimental social activism, the politics of collective
self-management, and the celebration of spontaneous cultural
expression. Dan Morrison previews his central thesis argumentation; the
full thesis will be posted on nigd website in July 2006.
II. The World Social Forum and the Bamako Appeal: Yes, but no
by Francine Mestrum
At the Netherlands Social Forum a discussion was held on the Bamako
Appeal with an informal panel of Peter Custers (Dutch NGO, X minus Y),
Karamat Ali (WSF Karachi), Helen Hintjens (Institute of Social Studies
in The Hague), and Peter Waterman. In her minutes from the session,
Francine Mestrum gives attention to the process of the WSF, the
democratic content, and the political content.
The Bamako Appeal appearing at the onset of the 2006 Bamako WSF is
still being discussed in different fora regarding its content,
methodology of production, and the possible merits of such a statement
for the WSF process.
See the appeal at http://www.thirdworldforum.net
2. The Bamako Appeal and the Maturation of the World Social Forum
by Peter Waterman
The Bamako Appeal may have taken a first step towards becoming a global
dialogue at the Netherlands Social Forum, writes Peter Waterman.
Providing his observations from the first day of the NSF, he concludes:
"It is surely time to surpass the originally brilliant slogan, ‘Another
World is Possible’. A dialogue on and between documents such as the BA
could help to do this."
3. Appraising the Bamako Appeal: A Contribution to the Debate
by Peter Custers
The author provides an elaborate commentary on the BA, concluding:
"With all its limitations, contradictions and defects, the Bamako
Appeal has forcefully posed the need for a programmatic document
against the still hegemonic model of neo liberalism. Only by taking
this debate forward constructively and non dogmatically, can the WSF
itself reach the aim of a defeat of the forces that continue to impose
destructive neo liberal policies on the large majority of countries in
the world."
III. Inside ‘Asia’s Killing Fields’
by Carmelita Morante
A return to militarism is serving the Arroyo government well and
undermining the people’s civil and political rights contributing to the
further polarization of the Philippine society. Carmelita Morante
speaks up on the subject of extra-judicial killings and other human
rights violations enfolding in the Philippines.
IV. The Contemporary Lefts in Latin America: Responses to the No Alternative
by Hanna Laako
Despite the triumphs of democracy and peace in Latin America in recent
decades, it seems progress has been mostly symbolic and the democratic
systems have not integrated citizen participation. Hanna Laako outlines
the elements and characteristics of the world in which the Contemporary
Left seek an alternative, and compares the different actors involved.
2. The European social model: its social and political values
by Francine Mestrum
All societies need some kind of protection; Western European countries
have systems of social protection that no other countries have ever
developed, neither rich, nor the poor developing countries. Francine
Mestrum explores the major characteristics of the European ‘social
model’, and the reforms necessary for it to be upheld.
IV. World Vote Field Test
by Joel Marsden
Electronic communications serve as a natural and potent organizational
platform to incorporate the principles of global direct democracy into
a system extending universal voting rights to every person on the
planet. Field coordinator, Joel Marsden summarises the results from the
171 countries and territories that cast their symbolic vote in the
Global E-Vote Simulation on May 15, 2006.
