Blogging the WSF

Returning to London from Bombay was like moving from technicolor to black and white. Bombay's ferocious but friendly vitality is mind-blowing at the best of times, but when this is combined with the diversity and energy of the Indian movements represented at the fourth World Social Forum (and the noise and colour of their demonstrations), the effect is to produce a surge of adrenalin that will keep me (and, I'm sure, lots of others) going for a long time to come. Truly this was a festival of the oppressed.

Everyone agrees that the WSF has been the most enormous success. How right it [more...]

They sat patiently. Thousands of delegates who poured in for the inaugural plenary on “Land, Water and Food Sovereignty” on Jan 17, waited for the star cast to emerge on the stage.

As I struggled to put the audio arrangements in place, I realized the enormous task I had on hand knowing that the translation system had collapsed. As the chair of the opening session, I for once understood what it meant when people say that you have to find an order in disorder.

“Language is no barrier when the struggle is for a common cause,” I told the huge audience (I guess it was something [more...]

I am writing now from Delhi, where Economic Research Foundation is holding a post conference on Resisting Imperialism with Samir Amin, Alejandro Bendanha and other economists working for social change.  On the last day of the conference, I was lucky to be able to engage with several US comrades on the prospects for an American Social Forum sometime in 2005.  It seems like a fantastic opportunity, if only to create a space to incentivize social movements and NGOs to get over some of their turf issues.  Of couse said turf issues arrive largely though not [more...]

 
That was the title of one of the main WSF-organized sessions in Mumbai yesterday. A huge panel of people, with speakers from Korea, India, Portugal, France, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa and Israel. Well, actually, the Brazilian was Chico Whitaker, the international secretary of the WSF, acting as chair of the meeting - in a very warm and human way.

Yesterday I read an essay by Chico Whitaker in 'WSF: Challenging Empires', the new collection edited by Jai Sen and others (it is a truly stupendous book, the first on the WSF phenomenon, and a great achievement of [more...]

The audience at one of the plenaries reflect the diversity of the WSF delegates.

The crowd sits outside for the open-air forum on "Women on Wars, Wars on Women". About 50,000 people attended.

Famed Egyptian feminsit, Nawl El Saadawi speaking at the evening plenary on "Women on Wars, [more...]

These photos speak for themselves so I won't send captions. They are from the grounds of the forum, outside the panels and workshops and reflect the incredible diversity of the activist dancers and drummers.

more...]

It is the last full day of the forum today and the energy remains high. Tomorrow evening there will be a closing plenary but the workshops and panels are over at the end of this day.

At the end of my first blog I said that for the first time in my life I felt safe among a crowd of thousands in India. Upon reflection, there is more to add than that. Outside the gates of the forum are tens of peddlars selling toy drums, maps of various countries and cities, balloons, and more. They desperately hawk their wares to the thousands of moneyed foreigners and Indians who step out of the forum [more...]

1) Dimensions of WSF Mumbai

2) Another person's perspective reported

3) Self-reflexive blog about the WSF bloggers (and why they haven't blogged)

1) Dimensions of WSF Mumbai

I don't think that the blogs have described some of the basic features of the WSF because they are the water that the fish/bloggers are swimming in. If you haven't been to WSF, or haven't looked closely at the WSF website (which is most readers of these blogs, I guess), there are a lot of basic realities to be aware of.

Firstly, geographically the site is actually [more...]

The organizers of the WSF have put together a series of very compelling events with some real top notch speakers.  One such event was entitled "G-20: A Passing Phenomenon or Here to Stay?" organized by Fredrich-Ebert Stiftung, Focus on the Global South, Economic Research Foundation, and the CUT from Brazil.  The featured speakers with Ambassador Clodoaldo Hugueney of Brazil and Shri. SN Menon, Special Secretary to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of the Indian government.  Members of civil society, incuding Walden Bello of Focus, Jayati Ghosh and Zhiyuan Cui of ERF, [more...]

Today I took a break from the throngs of the WSF, and escaped into the biggest slum in Asia, which by comparison, was tranquil. "Dharavi" is a massive conglomeration of shanty hut upon hut, precariously held together by bits of scrap material and sheer will power. I accompanied a delegation of Fair Trade activists from all over the world and India to Dharavi to mark the unveiling of their campaign and global march. The first stop was Asha Handicrafts in Andheri, about 15 minutes from the WSF in Goregaon. Asha Handicrafts is a fair trade cooperative, connecting Indian craftspeople with [more...]

Michael Albert is exhausted. We're all exhausted. Portions of my brain are definitely shutting themselves down.

First something very good. Last night I went to the launch party in a hotel half an hour away of a new book about the WSF - 'World Social Forum: Challenging Empires' - edited by Jai Sen, Anita Anand, Arturo Escobar and Peter Waterman. It's a stupendous collection of essays, documents and statements, a critical self-consideration of the WSF process by a variety of people. Published by theViveka Foundation in Delhi (tel: 91-11-2649 2473, more...]

Events continue. So do marches, rallies, and all manner of meetings. It is a jarring, sometimes depressing, always invigorating, often instructive, and finally quite exhausting experience -- so much diversity, so much poverty, and so much energy for change and struggle.

My own activities have been varied. A dinner for many friends and associates of ZNet -- with about 85 in attendence helped people meet and learn about and exchange information with others and was, I hope, quite successful.

I spent some time at the Mumbai Resistance -- a kind of parallel and counter gathering. [more...]

Aside from reading this blog, The NewStandard Staff has been monitoring some other reports about this year's World Social Forum. We though we'd highlight a few interesting movement criticisms of the WSF organizing we've come across.

There's been some controversy surrounding a lack of attention to disability issues at WSF 2004. This story in the Hindustan Times summarizes a major gripe. Here's a better, if somewhat patronizing, more...]

Medha Patkar, one of the most famous Indian activists, legendary for her solidarity work with people displaced by big dams in India. She spoke at the morning plenary on January 17th. Patkar went on hunger strikes to protest the Indian government and World Bank actions. Although she is little known outside the US, in India, her fame among activists outweighs that of Arundhati Roy.

Day three of the WSF, Mumbai. Interpretation problems plagued the first session of the day once more - ironically the session was on issues of communication: "Media, Culture and Knowledge". Speakers included the Director of Le Monde Diplomatic who insisted on speaking in French even though there were translation problems, only about 5% of the crowd spoke french, and his english was perfect... After three tries he began his speech in English finally giving into a request from the moderator.

Nikhil Wagle (Waagh-lay), a prominent journalist/activist from Maharashtra was also speaking. He [more...]

Last night was a highlight of the whole WSF for me, a ZNet-connected dinner put on by Michael Albert, where I got the chance to meet folks who I'd known of, face-to-face, which was really exciting and powerful. Perhaps this is part of the complementary real-world face-to-face function of the WSF, complementing the digital world social forum made up by the activist section of the internet.

For example, having seen and admired tons of stuff written or sponsored by Rania Masri in the course of the last few years of anti-sanctions/anti-war campaigning, and having corresponded a tiny [more...]

Todd here again from Center for Economic and Policy Research.  Have finally found an internet cafe in the Vileparle part of MUmbai by my hotel, and decided to live up to my responsibilities a little more.  Some great stuff is coming up over the next few days.  In particular, Samir Amin and Joseph Stiglitz will be having a debate on trade.  It seems that Stiglitz is really making claims to the legitimacy of this WSF audience, and the Indian news media treats him like a God. 

There is also a suprising number of groups from across Asia that are hosting events [more...]

Apologies for not being more agressive about the blogging.  Jet lag and lack of computer access have conspired to keep the masses silent.  The first day and a half of the Forum has been a stunning success.  The typical complaints about lack of organization not withstanding, the general consensus among people I talk to is that much more of the social base is represented at this year's Social Forum than in Porto Alegre in the past.  The forum grounds are covered by organizations representing Dalit, adisava, tribal and workers' groups from India - from Orissa, from Kerala, [more...]

Photos from Mumbai by Jim Ingalls.

Elderly farmers from Bihar, walking barefoot into the open grounds for the opening plenary.

A [more...]

The events have begun. Five huge halls, about thrity smaller venues. It is hard to descibe briefly - but the main sense is large flowing crowds, of almost infinite iversity -- language, dress, approac to moving through the paths, and so on. There are many many many more people outside at any moment than in talks.

There are few schedules -- very few -- so most people know only where the main events are, and perhaps those they are somehow related to.

In other words, it is another WSF...more colorful, as energetic or a bit more so - but the communication of information in big halls, [more...]

January 17th, the anniversary of the day the US sent missiles into Iraq in 1991, and my older sister Sameera's birthday. It is also day 2 of the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India and the first day during which smaller plenaries and self-organized workshops begin. It is difficult to estimate how many people are here but local media are reporting 70,000 to 100,000 attendees. This is the first time I have felt totally safe in an overcrowded environment in India. I have no fear of molestation or pickpockets. The atmosphere is chaotic in the most beautiful ways. The majority of the delegates [more...]

When I left the WSF site half an hour ago, the schedule still hadn't shown up, 24 hours after it was supposed to be delivered. The schedule available online actually shrank in the run-up to WSF (an event I'm supposed to be in got deleted, definitely not the only one).

In the last few days, I'd managed to get hold of a draft schedule (sneaking into the media centre where non-media delegates are not allowed), and been disappointed by the lack of anti-war events (being mainly an anti-war activist/writer).

Last night, on the way to meet someone for dinner, I was given a sheet [more...]

I am writing from the media center in mumbai at wsf 4. So far no events have occured, only registering, etc. -- but much excitement in the byways and paths in the venue for the events. colorful and energetic gatherings everywhere -- in the venue. Mumbai, however, is huge, very huge. And in the city, our efforts are not very visible, or so it seems to me.

We are waiting to see a schedule...I don't even know all the events I am speaking at, much less those I want to attend ot learn from. But tonight there is a large opening session, with various talks and cultural events, which I am [more...]

Incidentally, in the registration queue, I met Herraldo from the YMCA Uruguay, who told me most of the YMCA associations in the world support the WSF agenda, but the rich and powerful parts of YMCA (US, UK, etc) don't, and therefore YMCA as a whole does not.

Gave me an insight into the breadth of the WSF process, and a new angle on civil society and the WSF agenda.

Yesterday, the day before WSF starts, the site didn't look like a building site, it WAS a building site. Touring the area, we stumbled on a plastics factory in the centre of the sprawling industrial estate which is housing WSF. Real industrial capitalism (with dodgy looking piles of rubbish) in the heart of WSF!

Meeting a French activist soon after registration, I found she'd been here a week assisting a Dalit star-march-type event. (Dalits are oppressed castes here in India.) Five weeks ago a Dalit conference launched a 'march' through hundreds of cities and town by four [more...]

When Charles Dickens wrote the Great Expectations, he didn’t visualize what it would mean to a devout Hindu or to an angry social activist.

Every year, millions of Hindus tread to Allahabad, the city where India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was born. They don’t assemble at Allahabad to pay homage to the great leader but to take a dip in the holy Ganges, with the expectation that the ritual bathing on the auspicious day will wipe away their sins. The annual event is called Kumbh Mela.

For the religious, it is a pilgrimage. Such is the faith and devotion [more...]

I'm writing this in Mumbai, the day before the Forum starts. It's an odd double vision experience being here, seeing things at the same time from the point of view of someone who lives in England, and also from the perspective of someone of Nepali descent - India is in a different century to Nepal, dramatically more developed.

I have some goals I can define precisely for being here: taking part in a nonviolence workshop that I was invited to be part of (on the 17th, 5-8, room B43); trying to talk to other anti-war activists from around the world about an initiative [more...]

Here is a very insightfull commentary called "Politics at the Venue" by Vijay Prashad. It was originally published on ZNet's Z Sustainers Program, a premium service provided by ZNet for those who donate to support Z-related projects. It was published on January 11.

This interesting article by Praful Bidwai, from the public IPS wire, looks into some of the issues surrounding Mumbai as the chosen location for the 2004 World Social Forum.