Bia Barbosa & Maurício Hashizume*
Mumbai – "Asia is definitely in the World Social Forum". The words came from sociologist Boaventura de Sousa Santos, an intellectual with strong ties to the WSF since its creation. At the eve of the opening, he says he is impressed by what he sees in India. Those are lessons that the process of globalisation of the Forum – which intends to take the motto "another world is possible" to other countries – will certainly learn from the Indians. After an International Committee meeting, when the local committee made a final presentation on the structure and workings of the event, there was a consensus that the way India organised the Forum shall inspire Porto Alegre, where it is going next year.
"The Indians have creatively used all that happened in the three first forums. Local materials used in the constructions at Nesco Grounds (convention centre where the activities are held) and the way the programme was organised are very interesting’, Boaventura believes.
An important point in the programme is the large number of so-called self-managed activities, that is, those that were not proposed by the organising committee and are developed with autonomy by organisations. There a total of over 1,200 of them, proposed by 93 countries. India is obviously at the top of the list, with Brazil coming in second – it registered 109 workshops at the WSF.
"We have accepted all registries. And the organisations asked for spaces to gather a large number of people’, says Indian committee member Kamal Mitra Chenoy. According to participants, it is in the self-managed activities that movements really organise and exchange experiences. Francisco Whitaker, a member of the Justice and Peace Commission of CNBB (Brazil’s National Bishops Conference) and the WSF International Committee, says that the tendency is that such activities fill more and more space in the event’s programme. "That will also happen in Porto Alegre", he guarantees.
Strengthening popular participation is another lesson India teaches the Forum. Here, the culture of political mobilisation is very strong and movements have two origins: one is mass movements, which come from traditional political parties, labour unions and women’s movements; the one is popular movements with similar characteristics to Brazil’s landless rural workers. "We need to know how there two movements will manage to work together after this Forum", says Cristophe Aguiton, from the social movement network Focus on the Global South, and also a member of the International Council.
In India, the organising committee includes 190 organisations from distinct lines of thought, including the Dalits – people belonging to the lowest Indian caste and victims of the highest social exclusion. Debating the caste problem, which divides Indian society not only during the Forum, but also in its organising committee, is an example that has been acclaimed in this meeting.
"I was in the last WSF in Porto Alegre and I know that most of Brazilian society is black or mulatto. However, the participation by Brazilians belonging to those groups was very low if compared to whites", says Ashok Bharti, from the National Conference of Dalit Organisations, which gathers 200 organisations of untouchables all over India. "Our intention in this Forum, with participation of 30 thousand dalits from all parts of the country, is to give absolute priority to the social character of the meeting, in order to leave no doubt about our differences from the Davos Economic Forum (In Switzerland), he sustains.
India’s Forum also advances when it proposes to debate a closer relationship between movements and political parties – something very present in leftist Indian organisations. The population of the country believes that political parties and social activists can be partners, and that such union will establish the former’s agendas according to the latter.
"In Brazil, the labour confederation (CUT, Central Única dos Trabalhadores) and labour unions are independent from governments and parties. Here we’ll see a different reality, not necessarily bad. And that will create debate’, says João Waccari, CUT’s secretary-general. The organisation is bringing the largest number of Brazilians to Mumbai. "We’ve got a lot to learn with Asians, they have 3,000 years of history’, says Waccari.
Listening to criticism and naturally answering it has also been another positive point in this Forum. This Thursday (15), Kamal Mitra Chenoy, one of the organisers, said that the Forum would gladly welcome participants of the Mumbai Resistance – an alternative Forum organised by a group unhappy with the WSF macro-structure. Among other points, they condemn the Forum’s lack of a policy with more results. "We would love to answer the criticism, we want them to be here. An alternative Forum is good, but we would also welcome them’, Chenoy said.
The WSF shall be back in Porto Alegre in 2005, more globalised, stronger and with sounder ties with Asia. But the lessons taken by Brazilians from their stay in India might be even more positive. An expectation that begins to have its answers after this Friday, when the 4th World Social Forum will be officially opened in Mumbai.
*with Jéferson Assumção
Translated by Roberto Cataldo Costa
