6-11 februari 2011: wereld social forum dakar
nre - 22.11.2010 15:33
The WSF was born in 2001 at Porto Alegre (Brazil) and celebrated its tenth birthday recently on January last. This tenth birthday was an opportunity to evaluate its progress up to this point, to analyse the movement’s achievements and weak points, and to consider the challenges to the World Social Forum in the light of the systemic crisis that is affecting the whole world, including its economic, environmental and political dimensions.
THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM
DAKAR, SENEGAL, 6 – 11 FEBRUARY 2011
ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE
The World Forum in Africa will constitute a unique opportunity for global social movements to develop their critique of world capitalism in the light of the crisis, to achieve a better understanding of the new issues at work in today’s world, to prepare democratic and popular alternatives and to reflect on the future of the World Social Forum itself, as an open space.
This event will also be extremely important for African peoples. For them, it will constitute an unprecedented opportunity for collective democratic expression and will enable them to move towards a way out of the political, institutional and economic deadlock that has been imposed on them by their ruling classes, by the great powers, and by the international financial institutions.
After organising the polycentric Forum at Bamako in 2006 and the WSF at Nairobi in 2007, the Dakar Forum will be an opportunity to consolidate the achievements of the African social movements and the forces of progress on the continent and to compile a striking and visible record of their struggles and alternative solutions in the global search for a just world.
I - THE GLOBAL CONTEXT: crisis of capitalism and crisis of civilisation...
The 2011 Forum will be organised within a global context that has been marked by the growing discreditation of neoliberal ideology, symbolised above all by the international financial crisis and its consequences for the entire planet. The financial and economic crisis was preceded by a world food crisis which added millions more to the already lengthy list of those who no longer have enough to eat, and by the energy crisis which has exposed the limits of a model that was founded on the pillage and wastage of non-renewable resources. All these crises are a reflection of the last throes of capitalism and its hegemonic claims, which are caught up in a crisis of legitimacy that deepens with every day that passes. Nowadays, all the founding myths of capitalism are being challenged: the ‘free market’; ‘free trade’; the ‘self-regulating’ economy; the minimalist state; the ‘mastery’ of nature; the individual as the basis of society, and the marketisation of property that is held in common and of livelihoods...
In this context, climate change is but one indicator that reveals the depth of the crisis and the fundamental inability of the dominant modes of production and consumption to adapt. Furthermore, the failure of Copenhagen shows, if this were necessary, that the world is governed by a combination of force and injustice, and that certain economic and political forces are prepared to sacrifice the planet in order to safeguard their own interests.
However, the current crisis has a further dimension, one that is far more dramatic: the evocation of new threats, the maintenance of a permanent state of war, and the continuing violation of the rights of peoples to dispose of themselves. A state of war as a strategy for emerging from this crisis, or simply as a means of sustaining a political and economic hegemony that is strongly challenged, is the ultimate aim of the great world powers, and one which they are pursuing instead of presenting alternatives to a system and a model that have run out of steam.
The crisis is accompanied by a systematic attrition of rights: the rights of workers, whose situation has grown extremely vulnerable; of migrants, who are being increasingly criminalised and are losing the protection due to them, and of women who pay a heavy price on the economic, social and cultural levels...
More and more social and intellectual movements round the world are interpreting this crisis, not simply as a financial crisis or a dysfunctional aspect of capitalism, but in more profound terms as a true crisis of civilisation, given the extent to which the very foundations of the dominant economic, social, environmental, cultural and political system have been challenged by a large section of humanity that views them as the source of the economic, social and political injustice in the world, and as the source of the damage that has been done to the earth.
Protests and resistance are no longer being directed simply at the economic system, but more broadly at the whole set of rules and values which have determined human relations for several centuries, and certainly since the fifteenth century, when capitalism first emerged and spread.
The forceful entrance of certain nations onto the international division of labour and the political management of the world, the ongoing de-colonisation process in Latin America and the struggles of autochthonous peoples, together with Africa’s aspirations to escape from its head-on confrontation with Europe and to control its own resources and decisions, could also be interpreted as calling into question the hegemonic order that has ruled the planet for several centuries.
Likewise, demands for climate justice, and furthermore, for environment justice, are simply ways of calling into question a system of production and consumption that has no future and is based on mankind’s predatory relationship with the environment.
The current world crisis has shown that humanity desperately needs to re-define fundamental aspects of the contract that binds its members together, and the nature of the essential bond between living beings and the earth. In the same way, it reveals the fundamental limits of hegemonic values and dogmas that were imposed through violence, slavery and oppression in the course of many centuries.
II – CONTEXT FOR AFRICA
The WSF’s return to Africa is an expression of the international social movement’s powerful and active solidarity with the struggles and resistance engaged in by African social movements and peoples.
This return takes place within a significant political moment: on the one hand Africa is one of the last bastions of neo-liberal policies, as defined by the Washington Consensus, on the other hand, this continent is a place of confrontation between traditional hegemonic powers that seek to maintain their economic, political and military influence, and emergent powers in the Southern hemisphere.
Likewise, Africa is the place where the crisis has given rise to very severe economic and social hardship, and where global competition for raw materials has given rise to the bloodiest conflicts.
Thus, a challenge has been launched to indicate that the social movements are ready to confront the dominant model wherever the last bastions of neo-liberal policies persist.
One area of engagement for these movements is provided by the Economic Partnership Agreements that the European Union wishes to impose on the African continent. EPAs are ‘free-exchange’ agreements which contain grave threats to African economies. This is why the African social movements have responded with a dogged resistance that has contributed towards strengthening the opposition in some countries and to delaying the conclusion of negotiations in many regions. This opposition to the EPAs forms part of the general context of struggle against the neo-liberal policies that are advocated by the international financial institutions and the WTO, and for which the African continent has paid dearly.
The African ruling classes have generally been complicit in the fate that neoliberal economics and the hegemonic powers have inflicted on the continent. They are also responsible for the state of civil liberties and for the institutional instability, as well as for the predatory economies that operate in just about the whole of Africa.
Elsewhere, everywhere in the world, old and recent Diasporas are asserting their particular cultural, political and affective ties with Africa, their land of origin. Africans themselves are aware of the need to deepen their ties with these Diasporas.
For the Diasporas themselves, these ties are vital for recovering their identity and dignity, and for Africans, they belong fully to the continent, given that African union would be inconceivable, and the harmonious development of the continent could not be achieved without them.
Movements that represent old and recent Diasporas will form an integral part of the 2011 WSF, and will be closely associated with all the organisational phases. The struggles that these Diasporas are engaged in to secure recognition of their rights and to fight racial and political discrimination are a litmus test for the state of the world, and they present mankind with essential alternatives.
Generally speaking, the struggles and resistance by the African social movement, together with the influence of the WSF, have succeeded in raising awareness, at the level of both ordinary citizens and political powers, about the need to put an end to the neo-colonial system and its dominant role, to take control of decision-making, to deepen civic liberties and to guarantee institutional stability so that Africa can grasp its destiny and explore another means of development, one that is proper to itself.
Africa must put its mark on the 2011 WSF on several levels. To start with, the fundamental questions about the continent’s economic and social development, its security and its relations with the rest of the world, must be central to the Forum’s debates. In this context, the Forum must present a great opportunity to intensify the struggle against neo-liberal policies, given that Africa illustrates one of the World Bank’s and the IMF’s greatest failures during three decades of intervention by them. Furthermore, since it is already the principal victim of capitalist globalisation, Africa runs the risk of shouldering the heaviest burden of the ‘solutions’ that the Western nations and the institutions they control are preparing in order to extricate themselves from the crisis of capitalism.
It is for these reasons, and others, that the African social movements must increase their resistance and efforts at mobilising against the neoliberal system as a whole. They must continue to discredit its ideology, its concepts and its values. They must contribute to aggravating its crisis of legitimacy and to consolidating the structural basis for the post-capitalist transformation.
In this respect, the African social movements have culture at their disposal, and can use it as a powerful weapon in their struggle against neoliberal ideology. It is an instrument for promoting the conscientisation, and the social and political mobilisation, of their peoples. Thus, the process of preparing and holding the 2011 WSF must present opportunities for mobilising the most talented and creative individuals in every cultural area; writers, musicians, artists, painters, sculptors, filmmakers, dancers and designers, both on the continent and among the Diaspora. The WSF in 2011 must showcase one of the greatest cultural shows on the continent.
III – THE ‘SOUTHS’ AT THE 2011 WSF
The 2011 WSF will also lay considerable stress on South-South relations. Indeed, one of the striking features of the waning twentieth century has been the rise of the South as a major player on the world stage.
The last few years have seen some nations modify their positions in the international division of labour within the context of a new economic and political configuration, and a new extension of global capitalism. Thus, we can see how hundreds of millions of individuals in Asia, Latin America have enthusiastically adopted capitalist modes of production and consumption, and are increasingly claiming a larger share of the world’s wealth, and its economic opportunities.
Over and beyond the fact that by becoming economic powers they now form an important part of world capitalism, these new and visible nations are also ancient civilisations imbued with particular human experiences, cultures and world visions. They are also powerful in demographic terms, and will surely bring about a greater mingling of the world’s populations than has ever been seen before.
However, this new development also conceals new economic, social and political inequalities that have arisen within these new nations, within the Southern Hemisphere and in the world. It also harbours the risk of new conflicts, since neither the United States nor Europe will consent to the loss of the hegemony they have exercised over the planet for several centuries.
At the same time, the ties between Africa and the other regions of the South have been strengthened. Africa has even become a major stake in North-South relations, especially with regard to the acquisition of markets, access to natural resources and international political relations.
As with all major evolutions, it is difficult to grasp all the consequences for global economic and political relations. Some social movements hope that it will constitute a new ‘Bandung’ and present a new opportunity for removing the neoliberal and hegemonic deadweight which has governed the planet for the last few decades, especially the peoples of the South.
At the same time, though, the constitution of the G20 and its various meetings has given rise to fears of a real risk of marginalising those nations which are not members of the winner’s club, according to the dominant system.
It is clear that this new and major development contains contrasting trends and that the social movements need to assess it, to ensure that it becomes a source of integration for all the nations of the world, and does not merely present global capitalism with a new opportunity to spread and regenerate itself.
Furthermore, these movements also need to re-think their associations, in order to develop new strengths and envisage new solidarities, and to develop communal ways of understanding the world and its new complexities.
IV – THE ORIENTATIONS OF THE 2011 WSF: Towards a new universality/new universalisms?
The 2011 WSF is being organised at a crucial moment for humankind and for all social movements that are dedicated to justice, liberty and solidarity. The orientations that have been chosen are only pointers, to make it easier to address all the crucial questions, and to favour convergences and the debate about alternatives.
1.
To better understand the current crisis, not only as an economic and financial crisis but also as a crisis of civilisation and of the values and rules which have governed the planet for several centuries. By building on our experiences over the last 10 years, the Dakar Forum will also be a space in which the critique of capitalism can be developed and where the struggles and resistance against hegemony and oppression can be strengthened, while also laying the foundations for a transition to a more equitable post-capitalist world.
2.
To understand recent geopolitical changes, both as components of the evolution of global capitalism itself, and as a claim by a considerable proportion of humanity to have a say in defining the rules of the game, and to inspire universal values.
3.
In line with various social and solidarity movements, to contribute to rebuilding relations between humans, the environment and living beings on the basis of justice, solidarity and diversity, by giving precedence to groups and social categories which have suffered most from the dominant hegemonic model during the last five centuries, that they may have a voice. The people involved are in particular, workers, peasants, diasporas, migrants, women, ‘native/autochthonous’ peoples, peoples struggling for independence and groups struggling for economic, social and cultural rights and for gender equality.
4.
To make visible and consolidate the struggles by social movements to be capable of confronting the new challenges thrown up by the unprecedentedly deep crisis, and to enable new convergences in these struggles and new solidarities to develop.
5.
To enable a broad debate on the question of rights and values in the new global context with a view to opening up new ways for people to construct their rights and values for themselves and to prevent these from being subjected to systematic instrumentalization by hegemonic powers. This debate will also be an opportunity to state that universal norms are established by and for all the peoples on this planet.
6.
To facilitate the expression and construction of democratic and popular alternatives, and to link them in convergences that will give them a real chance of success.
7.
The 2011 WSF will assign a significant position to African and Diaspora movements, and to the expression of their aspirations and struggles.
While stressing the history of the resistance and struggles by African peoples against domination and oppression, the 2011 WSF will need to find a way of articulating the struggles and global strategies that are common to Africa, to the other nations of the South, and to the rest of the world.
V – THE FORUM’S WORKING AXES
Thematic axes should make it possible for these movements to make themselves heard more easily, while ensuring the best convergences. Furthermore, they should enable the Forum space to be organised in a coherent way.
This first formulation of the axes was produced by the preparatory seminar that the WSF held in Dakar in July 2010. It will be followed by an extensive international consultation process.
1.
For a human society that is founded on common principles and values about the dignity, diversity, and equality of all human beings, irrespective of race, culture, age or disability, or religious belief, and which favours the elimination of all forms of expression and discrimination based on racism, xenophobia, caste systems, sexual orientation and other forms.
2.
For environmental justice, and a durable and universal access to common goods for humankind; for the preservation of the planet as source of life, especially the earth, water, the forests, and the sources of renewable energy and biodiversity, while guaranteeing the rights of indigenous, autochthonous, and native peoples over their own territories, resources, languages, cultures, identities and knowledge.
3.
For human rights that are applicable and effective, i.e. economic and social, cultural, environmental, civic and political rights, especially the right to land; to control over food production, to alimentation, social security, education, housing and jobs; to decent work, communication, and freedom of cultural and political expression.
4.
For the freedom of movement and residence for all: especially migrants and asylum seekers, victims of human trafficking, refugees; of indigenous, first, autochthonous, traditional and native peoples; of minorities and peoples under occupation, in situations of war and conflict, and for respect for their civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights.
5.
For the unalienable right of all peoples to the cultural heritage of humanity, for the democratisation of knowledge, cultures, communication and technologies, and for an end to hegemonic knowledge systems and the privatisation of knowledge and technology, and for a fundamental change to the system of intellectual rights and property.
6.
For human rights that are applicable and effective, i.e. economic and social, cultural, environmental, civic and political rights, especially the right to land; to control over food production, to an adequate diet, social security, education, housing and jobs; to decent work, communication, and freedom of cultural and political expression.
7.
For the freedom of movement and residence for all: especially migrants and asylum seekers, victims of human trafficking, refugees; of indigenous, first, autochthonous, traditional and native peoples; of minorities and peoples under occupation, in situations of war and conflict, and for respect for their civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights.
8.
For the unalienable right of all peoples to the cultural heritage of humanity, for the democratisation of knowledge, cultures, communication and technologies, and for an end to hegemonic knowledge systems and the privatisation of knowledge and technology, and for a fundamental change to the system of intellectual rights and property.
9.
For a world that has been rid of capitalist values and structures, of patriarchal oppression, of every form of domination by financial powers, of transnational corporations and unequal trade systems, of colonial domination and domination through indebtedness.
10.
For the construction of a social economy that demonstrates solidarity and is emancipatory, with sustainable models of production and consumption, and an equitable system of trade that prioritises the fundamental needs of peoples and respect for nature, while providing for global redistribution and an international tax system with no fiscal havens.
11.
For the construction and expansion of democratic, political and economic systems at local, national and international levels, with participation by the peoples in decision-making and the management of public affairs and resources, while respecting the diversity and dignity of peoples.
12.
For the construction of a world order that is based on peace, justice and human security, on law, ethics, and the sovereignty and self-determination of peoples, while condemning economic sanctions and favouring international rules for regulating the arms trade.
13.
For celebrating the histories and struggles of Africa and the African Diaspora and their contribution to mankind, while acknowledging the violence inflicted by colonialism.
14.
For a collective reflection on our movements, on WSF procedure, and on possible future developments.
VI – OUR METHODOLOGY
The methodology that we have adopted has grown out of our achievements at the Nairobi and Belem Forums. It will combine respect for the open space principle with the search for convergences and themes that make an impact, which are the only things that will raise the WSF’s visibility in political terms.
The 2011 Forum will thus be organised as a cumulative process which will favour the search for convergences among the movements and the emergence of communal actions and alternatives, while continuing to grant extensive space to self-organised activities.
At the same time, just as happened in Belem during the Amazonian Day, a day will dedicated to Africa and the Diasporas, to be organised at the onset the Forum.
Consequently, in conformity with the decisions taken at the last International Council in Mexico, the following stages will be adhered to:
Day of 6 February 2011: Organisation of the March
Day of 7 February 2011: Day for Africa and the Diasporas
Day of 8 February 2011: Self-organised activities
Day of 9 February 2011: Self-organised activities
Day of 10 February 2011: Convergences or thematic meetings
Day of 11 February 2011: Continuation of the thematic convergences
Global convergences
1.
The day of 7 February dedicated to Africa and the Diasporas will be organised by the Organising Committee.
2.
The 2011 WSF will assign an extensive role to designated ‘marginalised’ groups, to give them an opportunity to make themselves heard, and to enrich the ranks of the WSF. In this respect, the criteria for assigning sites will keep this aim in mind, in order to reserve places at the centre of the entire site for these groups, and also to assign them the best working conditions.
3.
As for activities sponsored by the Organising Committee, the African Council and the International Council, these will be directly supervised by these bodies, which will propose themes and speakers. These activities will take place under the form of plenary assemblies, workshops, and seminars. Various formats will be offered: proposed: debates; bearing witness; round tables; interviews; homage paying ceremonies, among others.
4.
In addition, debates between intellectuals and African social movements will be organised.
5.
Furthermore, special ceremonies will be organised to honour the memory of emblematic figures in Africa and the Disapora (political leaders, men & women of culture, of the sciences, etc.)
6.
With a view to strengthening solidarity between African social movements and those of the Diaspora, seminars and round tables will be organised on an inclusive basis to tackle major themes, such as Reparation, Politics & Resistance, Relations between the Social Movements of the Diaspora, etc.
7.
A major stake in the forthcoming Forum in Dakar will be the promotion of African and International cultures in the service of the liberation of expression and solidarity with peoples’ struggles. Culture should no longer be simply a purveyor of folkloric entertainment but a real means of expression, communication and liberation. Thus, the preparation and the occasion of the WSF 2011 will an opportunity to mobilize the best talents and creative individuals in all cultural fields, authors, musicians, artists, painters, sculptors, film-makers, dancers and designers, both on the continent and beyond. The WSF 2011 must present one of the greatest displays of culture on the continent.
Among the new ideas which the organisers would like to implement, we wish to include:
1.
Establish a public open space where speech is free, where people can lead philosophical debates, political, recitals, poetry, plays, etc.. This is in memory of Alexandria in ancient Egypt, or Sankore in Timbuktu, time of the splendor of the Mali Empirefair for African products under the responsibility of ROPPA
2.
A fair for African products under the responsibility of ROPPA
3.
A space for children
4.
A meeting place for the African Diaspora in the form of a giant decorated tent.
5.
A permanent exhibition salon for historical individuals from Africa and the Diaspora.
6.
Days devoted to solidarity with peoples fighting on various fronts (Palestine, Haiti, indigenous peoples / indigenous / first, etc..)
7.
Days dedicated to a number of categories (farmers; artists/creative people; women; young people; people with disability.
Forums held in parallel :
Finally, the WSF 2011 will include the organization in parallel of various other forums :
The Science and democracy Forum
The Liberation Theology Forum
The Trades Unions Forum
The World Assembly of Inhabitants
The Education Forum
The Progressive Publishers’ Forum
The Local Authorities’ Forum
The Migrants’ Forum
The Caravan of Sport.
These Forums will be organised in an autonomous way by various international social movements, and will take place either prior to the WSF, or during the WSF. They will enable both the enrichment of the debates in the WSF and to increase participation and strengthen the convergences that the WSF will give rise to.
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