[WSMDiscuss] the future of the World Social Forum again
Francine Mestrum
mestrum at skynet.be
Sun Apr 1 16:39:25 CEST 2018
Op 28/03/2018 om 19:37 schreef jasper teunissen via WSM-Discuss:
> Hi Francine!
>
> Op 27-3-2018 om 18:59 schreef Francine Mestrum via WSM-Discuss:
>>
>> Some people are blocking the methodology, that is the problem. As for
>> strategy: there never has been any and it was never possible to
>> discuss it.
>>
> I hear you propose to prioritize one issue over the other and to make
> political statements on behalf of the forum. How will this create a
> WSF that is able to "contribute to the coordination of actions and the
> organization of movements"? You also say that "a very large majority
> of the more than 2000 activities are purely mobilizing, only a small
> minority is focused on the development of alternatives or on
> strategy." What is the difference between being mobilizing and having
> a focus on alternatives and strategy? Did the organizing committee or
> the International Council have a strategy to visualize, interrelate,
> circulate the outcomes of all these activities?
fm: no, no strategy to visualize, etc. Except for the 'agora' of the
last day, where people came to announce what they had decided.
The difference between mobnilizing/strategizing/alternatives is a kind
invention of myself, to make in fact the difference between 'indirect'
(don't know if that is the right word) and 'direct' political action.
The examples I gave: LGBT and hiphop vs decent work or neoliberal World
Bank policies
I do not know why you think I want to 'prioritize' one issue over the other?
>
> The International Coucil fails to facilitate the discussion on the
> *when, where and who* of the the next forum, which makes the exclusive
> focus on the *how* hypothetical, unsolvable and thus frustrating. If
> you want to talk strategy, what about this:
> In 2020 we organize seven World Social Forums, in different parts of
> the world. Not on the same dates, but spread throughout the year, like
> an estafette. The IC provides an inspiring framework for collective
> communication and basic organisational support (conflict resolution).
> The IC finds funding to send small delegations of particpants from one
> event to the other.
> In january 2021 all seven organizing committees, and all organizers of
> other global/thematic/regional/national/local forums of the past 20
> years, are invited to gather in Porto Alegre. The International
> Council is discharged honorably and after evaluating the WSF together,
> a new body is established according to the needs and future plans of
> all present.
fm: this indeed would create 'a process', something that is now talked
about but does in fact not exist and it should exist
>
>> What you describe in your last para is precisely what we have been
>> trying to do all those years. And if you do not have a sheer idea of
>> how to get involved, it means something is lacking in your
>> understanding of the so-called process.
>>
> Maybe. To my understanding one has to found an NGO, find proper public
> or private funding, act as if you are representing a social movement,
> talk a lot about how to change the world and how other people should
> behave and act, apply for membership of the International Council if
> you are lucky enough to know how to address them, then wait for a
> couple of years for an answer, and then, finally: you can fly around
> the world to attend council meetings where the same people are
> repeating the same things over and over again in four or five star
> hotels. Of course, this sounds ridiculous, so something must be
> lacking in my understanding of the so-called process. How come?
> Please, enlighten me!
fm: let me reassure you: we are not gathering in 4 or 5 star hotels...
If you want to get involved in the 'WSF process' you just go there and
try to organise things with others; Since it is an 'open space' no one
can stop you.
> groetjes Jasper
>
> ps. Francine: although I disagree with some of your proposals, I
> really appreciate your writings about your experiences in the WSF and
> IC, because inside information is rare and hard to find, and these
> discussions may help us to find answers to the deadlock.
fm: if I am still involved it is because I am convinced we do need to
coordinate and to get better organized, at the global level. The
articulation of our actions from the local via the national to the
global level is, I think, extremely important and urgent.
Francine
>
>> Best,
>>
>> Francine
>>
>>
>> Op 27/03/2018 om 05:06 schreef jasper teunissen via WSM-Discuss:
>>>
>>> Dear all,
>>>
>>> Reading Francine Mestrum's review (pasted below) of the WSF event in
>>> Salvador earlier this month, I got a flashback. The discussion about
>>> the future of the WSF is very depressing. It's a blame game
>>> repeating itself: the old guard is blocking change, horizontalism
>>> equals the tyranny of structurelessness, the forum and the
>>> international council are apolitical and powerless. In my view this
>>> means blaming the wrong people, misunderstanding the role of
>>> methodology and strategy, and expecting/demanding something from the
>>> forum that it never has been or ever will be. I can elaborate on
>>> this if anyone is interested, I certainly do not claim to have the
>>> key to this 'deadlock', but I'm happy to repeat my earlier points
>>> about communication and continuity.
>>>
>>> The forum in Salvador had very little international coverage, and
>>> limited participation from abroad. There must have been something
>>> like "WSF Extension", online participation, but it's not visible
>>> anywhere. The most up-to-date place to look for reports is the
>>> facebook (sic) page of the event:
>>> https://www.facebook.com/forumsocialmundial2018 (Just saying: much
>>> of the coverage is focused on the assassination of activist Marielle
>>> Franco in Rio, and call me conspiracy theorist but I simply cannot
>>> unremember the impact of the murder of Chokri Belaïd on the eve of
>>> the WSF 2013 in Tunis, the Bardo museum attack on the eve of the WSF
>>> 2015 in Tunis, the Bataclan attack on the eve of the COP21
>>> mobilization in Paris. Do you have your tin foil hat ready for the
>>> next potentially meaningful protest?)
>>>
>>> There is hope. Just look at the "vlogging" videos here:
>>> https://intercoll.net/Forum-Social-Mondial-2018-Salvador-Bahia-Bresil
>>> (english subtitles). Especially, the last one is asking interesting
>>> questions about the relevance of the WSF...
>>>
>>> I attended a (european) Climate Justice Action meeting last january.
>>> Although I felt there was an overorganized faciliation team with way
>>> too many expectations (firstly of themselves and secondly of
>>> others), the result was pretty good: an improvised map of
>>> initiatives (thus also showing disconnections) and a calendar of
>>> events promoted by participants, available here:
>>> https://climatejusticeaction.net/en/climate-camps/ Participants were
>>> able to see their projects in a broader context, transversally
>>> connected in time and space, as part of a collective effort,
>>> promising and inviting.
>>>
>>> This is the way to go for the WSF, or any global initiative that is
>>> willing to put itself into service of emancipation, social justice,
>>> global solidarity, etc. Just imagine if we had connected all
>>> participants of previous WSF events, continuously informing them
>>> through a well functioning website (including newsletters,
>>> mailinglists, social networks). If we had a structure to build a
>>> calendar of future mobilizations and an 'eternal' public library of
>>> past mobilizations. If we had a strategic focus on translation and
>>> resonating the voice of local struggles. If we had any idea when and
>>> where the next WSF event is planned. And if we only had the sheerest
>>> idea of how to get involved in all this...
>>>
>>> grts jasper
>>>
>>> ---
>>>
>>>
>>> The World Social Forum is dead! Long live the World Social Forum?
>>>
>>> Francine Mestrum <https://www.alainet.org/es/autores/francine-mestrum>
>>> https://www.alainet.org/es/node/191824
>>> Opinión
>>> 25/03/2018
>>>
>>> This was my conclusion, but it did not last for long, just the first
>>> days of the Forum. Today, I am not that sure anymore. Maybe we are
>>> stuck with the old apolitical forum and with a powerless
>>> International Council. What does this mean for the future?
>>>
>>> Salvador de Bahia in Brazil is a wonderful city. A very diverse and
>>> cheerful population, many blacks and even more coloured people, a
>>> lot of music, a beautiful though dilapidated old town, the
>>> Pelourinho, a good climate and beautiful beaches.
>>>
>>> This is where the World Social Forum took place, from March 13 to
>>> 17, 2018. When it started, I already had three interesting days of
>>> debates in the forum on health and social protection, say social
>>> justice. We concluded unanimously on the importance of universal
>>> social protection and about the need to look at as wide as possible
>>> social policies.
>>>
>>>
>>> *Kurds, Sarawis and Palestinians *
>>>
>>> The World Social Forum started as usual with a big demonstration:
>>> tens of thousands of people walked through the city, happy faces,
>>> lots of hope, a great and very motivating mobilization. It gives you
>>> energy, enough to get through another year of activism.
>>>
>>> You meet friends and you talk to Palestinians, Kurds, French,
>>> Germans, Finns, Moroccans, Tunisians, Saharawis, Cubans and so many
>>> more good people. You walk on clouds.
>>>
>>> The real work started one day later. Wrestling through a programme
>>> of more than one hundred pages never is easy, certainly not on
>>> screen. Searching in a big university for the right faculty and the
>>> right room to find your workshop is not easy either. But the
>>> atmosphere is great, there is hope and confidence.
>>>
>>> Doubts start to emerge with the second day. What is global about
>>> this forum? More than 80%, if not 90% of the participants are
>>> Brazilians. There are a lot of people from Latin America and even
>>> from Africa because the links between Salvador de Bahia and Africa
>>> are quite strong. The European presence is much weaker and Asia is
>>> almost completely absent. On the third day, it becomes clear that
>>> few workshops are political, beyond what is happening in Brazil. A
>>> very large majority of the more than 2000 activities are purely
>>> mobilizing, only a small minority is focused on the development of
>>> alternatives or on strategy. The major themes of the past, the
>>> international financial institutions, free trade, conflicts, climate
>>> change: you have to look for them with a magnifying glass.
>>>
>>> A positive note should have come from the various parallel large
>>> gatherings: a women's assembly, an assembly of democracies where
>>> Lula came to speak, an assembly of social resistance movements.
>>> Unfortunately, they were a bit disappointing. This WSF has certainly
>>> put feminism fully on the map, women played a huge role in this
>>> Forum, but their action program leaves much to be desired. The
>>> assembly with Lula was a moment of mobilization and, obviously,
>>> mainly Brazilian. The assembly of social movements was a failure,
>>> because of the active boycott of a few.
>>>
>>>
>>> *A powerless International Council *
>>>
>>> The international disappointment does not detract from the enormous
>>> success of this Forum for the Brazilians, in politically very
>>> difficult circumstances. Despite the active boycott of a few, the
>>> organizers have succeeded in creating a Forum with almost 80,000
>>> participants. There certainly is no reason for any criticism.
>>>
>>> However, questions have to be asked about the limited participation
>>> of Europe and Asia. The price of plane tickets explains something in
>>> times of austerity, but not everything. Many intellectuals have
>>> abandoned the Forum some time ago and this deserves at least a
>>> thorough analysis.
>>>
>>> The meeting of the International Council was short: two half days.
>>> If you know the need of Brazilians to speak, often to say things
>>> that are not on the agenda, you can imagine the chaos of such a
>>> meeting. Three to five minutes of speaking time for everyone and no
>>> discussion. The old positions are repeated. And there is no solution.
>>>
>>>
>>> *A deadlock*
>>>
>>> 'Another world is possible', that was the mobilizing slogan when the
>>> first Forum was held in Porto Alegre in 2001. Thousands came to
>>> Brazil, intellectuals and grassroots movements from all over the
>>> world. The objective was to give an answer to the World Economic
>>> Forum in Davos, to develop global alternatives and strategies, to
>>> build global counterpower in times of neoliberal globalization.
>>>
>>> To make this possible, a number of basic rules were laid down in a
>>> 'charter', more particularly to avoid that the very fragmented
>>> left-wing groups would fight their ideological battle among
>>> themselves instead of with the common enemy.
>>>
>>> Over time, this charter has come to work as a brake on political
>>> action. Nobody can speak 'on behalf of' the Forum, fair enough, but
>>> does this mean that the Forum has no voice and never should have a
>>> voice? That the international Council can never ever take a
>>> political position? The founders of the Forum, who are still very
>>> present, are blocking everything, even on points on which there is a
>>> consensus, such as condemning the coup against President Dilma
>>> Rousseff in Brazil, or the assassination of Marielle Franco last
>>> week in Rio de Janeiro. Understandably, this is met with
>>> incomprehension and a lot of frustration.
>>>
>>> A second difficult topic is the so-called horizontality. Again,
>>> while we all agree on the necessity of avoiding vertical hierarchies
>>> and paralyzing structures, the attachment to horizontality has now
>>> become a cover for hiding the really existing power relations. There
>>> is no structure, no one has any responsibility and hence there is no
>>> accountability. There is no transparency, let alone democracy.
>>>
>>> The same horizontality continues with the activities of the Forum.
>>> Rejecting every hierarchy means that a workshop on 'women and
>>> football' or 'LGBT and hip-hop' is just as important as a roundtable
>>> about the financial crisis or about war and peace. A proposal for a
>>> conference with prominent left-wing intellectuals is dismissed as
>>> 'listening to the gurus'. Alternatives and strategies are hardly
>>> discussed, 'the movements themselves must take care of that', is the
>>> traditional answer.
>>>
>>> Or in other words, the dog bites its own tail.
>>>
>>> *
>>> *
>>>
>>> *A lack of politics*
>>>
>>> These problems within the Forum are often attributed to a
>>> contradiction between NGOs and social movements. Nothing is less
>>> true. There are conservative movements and progressive, political
>>> NGOs. But there is a for outsiders invisible leadership, assisted by
>>> movements who are afraid of politics.
>>>
>>> The key question, then, concerns the usefulness of such an
>>> apolitical forum? Certainly, for Brazil and even more for Salvador
>>> de Bahia this forum was very useful. But for all others? If the
>>> Forum cannot exist as a Forum, but only as a sum of thousands of
>>> movements, it becomes politically irrelevant. If the International
>>> Council does not exist as a political collective but again only as a
>>> gathering place for a few elected representatives of social
>>> movements, what is its role?
>>>
>>> Is there no longer any need for a global response, for a global
>>> political actor, for a global strategy? In Europe as well, many
>>> movements are withdrawing at the national and even the local level,
>>> and there should be no doubt that local actions are important. Local
>>> utopias can be particularly interesting, but can they be enough?
>>> When they come at the expense of national, European and global
>>> actions, there is a real problem. Because neither climate change nor
>>> digital data protection, nor fiscal or social justice can be
>>> adequately tackled nationally, let alone locally.
>>>
>>> '/We are an open space, we create hope and have a different vision
>>> of politics'/: this is the answer, time and again, to all questions,
>>> doubts and criticism. In reality there is no political approach and
>>> the objectives end with the mobilization. The most striking example
>>> is the 'success' which is always referred to, when, in 2003,
>>> millions of people took to the streets against the war in Iraq. A
>>> few weeks later, exactly fifteen years ago, that war started. Where,
>>> then, is the success?
>>>
>>> The articulation between different political levels is essential for
>>> any global and political meaning. The right knows this very well and
>>> acts accordingly. The left too often continues its navel gazing. At
>>> a time when the anger and the resistance to neoliberalism and
>>> dispossession are so great all over the world, it is worrying that
>>> there is nowhere any attempt to channel and activate them. Because
>>> in the meantime the repression and criminalization of social
>>> movements is increasing.
>>>
>>> The old, apolitical World Social Forum has no future unless it can
>>> contribute to the coordination of actions and the organization of
>>> movements. It is by no means the only global forum, but the only one
>>> with a potential for transversal work. It would be a shame if this
>>> was lost. Next year the WSF is 18 years old, the age of political
>>> majority. Maybe also the age to become autonomous and disobedient?
>>>
>>> - Francine Mestrum, Brussels
>>>
>>> https://www.alainet.org/es/node/191824
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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>> ** Inspired by the World Social Forum, WSMDiscuss – the successor to a list named ‘WSFDiscuss’ started in 2005 - is an open, unmoderated, and self-organising forum for the exchange of information and views on the experience, practice, and theory of social and political movement at any level (local, national, regional, and global), including the World Social Forum. Join in ! **
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>
>
>
>
> ________________________________________
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