FOUR RADICAL-DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGES OF AND FOR THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM PROCESS

Peter Waterman

p.waterman@inter.nl.net

Introduction

This effort is an attempt to avoid repetition of previous arguments, by myself or others, about the WSF, and to identify recent developments and crucial areas. It is evidently telegraphic. It needs development by myself or others.

1.Democracy as the necessity for popularisation

Up to 2005, 80% of WSF participants were university educated

Involving the ‘popular sectors’ has implications for the WSF Process: when? Where? how often? Costs?

Necessity for public projection of the Forum’s idea outwards and downwards

Popularisation in terms of communication and publicity as well

Otherwise we will continue with globalisation not from below but from the middle

2. Democracy surpassing politics

‘Politics is the art of preventing people taking part in matters that properly concern them’ (Paul Valery)

Politics is commonly understood as that which pertains to the state

Politics is understood by the Left as the highest form/ instance/discourse for transformation

For both reasons we should understand that

Politics is the alienation of past power, of other powers and as denial of future human potential

We should talk of power and empowerment - from the global to the bed – rather then spell this out

3. Democracy as emancipating the Left

The National-Industrial-Left (Insurrectionary, Incrementalist, Populist) is in a condition of crisis, decline or impotence

The project of the global justice and solidarity movement (GJ&SM) should be understood as ‘global social emancipation’.

It is this project that is emancipating – or could emancipate - the old and even the new left:

The Leninists (Cédric Durand 2006): make fundamental self-criticisms, and recognise the GJ&SM (not working-class struggle) as central to emancipatory efforts

The Thirdworldists/Dependency School (Appeal of Bamako 2006), producing the most radical-democratic public proposals on labour

The Feminists (World March of Women 2004), with a global charter for humanity

The Unionists not yet (Labour’s Platform for the Americas 2005), still trapped within liberal-democratic ideas and institutions.

4. Intellectual and cultural activity is increasingly central to democracy

Ideas, information, images and cyberspace (which increasingly combines, carries, exchanges), are becoming more central to human life and global social emancipation

Intellectuals/communicators/artists are neither handmaidens, elites, marginalised, nor worshipped fonts of truth

As catalysts (but are themselves transformed as they transform)

Not as serving policy or politics, but as sources of and stimuli to popular self-empowerment

On both present obstacles and possibilities related to WSF, see my already-outdated piece (Waterman 2005), and its bibliography and resource list

References

Appeal of Bamako. 2006. ‘The Bamako Appeal’ Charter of Porto Alegre. 2005. ‘Manifesto of Porto Alegre’
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2005-02/20group_of_nineteen.cfm
Durand, Cédric. 2006. ‘For a New Strategic Model’, International Socialist Tendency Discussion Bulletin, No. 7, January.
"http://www.istendency.net/pdf/ISTbulletin7.pdf
Labour’s Platform for the Americas. 2005.
http://www.gpn.org/research/orit2005/
Waterman, Peter. 2005. ‘Making the Road whilst Walking: Communication, Culture and the World Social Forum’
nigd/docs/MakingTheRoadWhilstWalkingPeterWaterman
World March of Women. 2004. ‘Women’s Global Charter for Humanity’
http://www.marchemondiale.org/en/charter3.html