What should the role and nature of the WSF be?

NIGD News and Notes Febuary 2005

In this issue:
1. The World Social Forum still strong after five years
2. A debate on the role and nature of the WSF
3. Join the Global Currency Transaction Tax campaign!
4. Newsletter on Research and Political Action
5. NIGD March events

1. The World Social Forum still strong after five years
by Marc Becker
The World Social Forum gathered at the end of January in Porto Alegre, Brazil for its fifth annual meeting. Activists debated a wide range of issues and proposals, including how to challenge neoliberal economic policies and whether it is possible to change the world without taking power.

World Social Forum 2005
by Ruby van der Wekken

Methodology of WSF 2005
The V World Social Forum 2005 took place in Porto Alegre from January 26 to 31, 2005, had 155.000 participants from 135 countries and hosted 2.500 activities. This years WSF did not see any WSF centrally organized events. The new methodology of the WSF was based on the self organizing capacities of its participants. Read more in the IC report on some of the conclusions on the new methodology drawn during the IC meeting.

Mural of Proposal
The forum still operates according to the logic of it being an open space: no statements are issued in name of the WSF. The new methodology of the forum has however been designed to facilitate the cooperation between those working on similar issues and ultimately also the elaboration of joint future action. Concrete proposals which came out of the joint work at the WSF are collected on the so-called Mural of Proposal which so far has collected some 350 proposals.

The Manifesto of the "Group of 19"
A group of 19 high profile thinkers were however of the opinion a collective statement needs to be issued.

WSF IC discussions on WSF 2006 and 2007
Whereas certain questions still remain open as for instance the periodicity in the future of the WSF, it has been decided that WSF 2006 will take place in a spread out manner and WSF 2007 in Africa. See also the IC report and read the official decisions of the IC

Toward North American Social Forums: a panel discussion at WSF 2005
By Marc Becker and Thomas Ponniah
At the World Social Forum, NIGD sponsored a discussion among activists who have been working on social forums in North America.

Strategies from within…
By Katarina Sehm Patomaki
This speech was delivered on 22 February 2005 at the seminar ‘Why Global Democracy?’ at the London School of Economics and on 23 February 2005 at a seminar on the future of global justice movements at the ‘Framtidsbaren’ in Malmö, Sweden

2. A debate on the role and nature of the WSF

Read the article of “Heikki Patomäki and Teivo Teivainen: The World Social Forum: an Open Space or a Movement of Movements?”, followed by a critique by Peter Waterman.

Marc Becker writes on the return of Hugo Chavez to the WSF, and Peter Waterman poses questions around the enthusiastic reception Chavez, however not Lula, received this year.

In 2007 the World Social Forum will be held in Africa. Trevor Nwgane shares with us two essays in connection to the WSF 2007 coming to Africa. The first essay is on the WSF 2007 in Africa needing to build a mass movement again capitalism and the second one elaborates on ten reasons why the WSF must not go to South Africa. Andile Mngxitama also writes about the WSF coming to Africa, in his article "WSF: The colonisation of resistance?"

The debate is closed with “The Third way” by Heikki Patomäki, written in response to the articles of Trevor Nwgane and Andile Mngxitama. The Third way is a reflection on the NGO-reformism versus radical, spontaneous grass-roots activism dichotomy often posed also in relation to the WSF. This is followed by a commentary of Patrick Bond on Heikki´s “Third way”.

3. Update on the campaign for a Currency Transaction Tax

Join the Global Currency Transaction Tax campaign!
by Mikael Böök

At Porto Alegre, CTT was much discussed at the series of "Otro sistema financiero"-events, which had been prepared and coordinated by Liberdade Brasil. CTT was also on the agenda of the "social movements", who in their common declaration urged for pressure on the G8 in Scotland (8 July 2005) to cancel the debt and impose a global tax on financial transactions to finance development.

The special seminar on CTT campaigns strategy arranged by Attac Italy, NIGD and Attac Japan ended up in a consensus on the need for campaigning at the global level. A new website is now up and running to serve this global campaign as well as the campaign to make the euro "a tobin tax currency". NIGD has taken formal ownership of this website, which was originally initiated at the European Social Forum in November 2004.

The new site is found at www.cttcampaigns.info

"Towards global taxation in the service of alternative globalisation"
According to economist Jacques Cossart (Attac France), we should fight for a diversified international tax system rather than for a single tax, however relevant. Cossart's essay "Towards global taxation in the service of alternative globalisation" is an overview of the various global taxes which are being planned, including the less discussed, but potentially far-reaching proposal of a unified corporate profit tax.

But how shall we achieve the global tax system? An international treaty on CTT could be the appropriate first step, and the "draft treaty" answers the question of how that first step could be taken. The "draft treaty" is now being translated into several languages.

Despite Dispute
Read further reflections on the consensus and diversity within the CTT campaigns in the article Despite Dispute

4. Newsletter on Research and Political Action The Action Research Network in Europe (www.euromovements.info) would like to realize a newsletter (a multilingual compilation of materials) around the subject "Activist research: practice(s) to challenge the investigation" and for this purpose invites you to participate in developing a reflection or sending a paper that you have already written around the crossing between political action and research. Deadline for contributions: 15 of April 2005 Send it to: info@euromovements.info

The Action Research Network in Europe is also building a cartography on the interaction of political action and investigation and a directory on activist research groups, experiences and resources. If you would like to contribute to it, please send information on collectives and experiences of activist research to include at directory@euromovements.info. It will be accessible online at the website www.euromovements.info

5. NIGD March events
Visit for NIGD events our Rendezvous page