Blogging the WSF

New Delhi, Jan 15 - 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 that a majority of them come again and again year after year.

As I prepare to leave for Mumbai, to join thousands of activists, artists, intellectuals, economists, students, politicians, farmers and just ordinary people to rally around the theme "Another world is possible," I wonder whether the World Social Forum has also turned into an annual ritual for the those who feel disenchanted by the tightening corporate control over the world and its people, as well its resources. I wonder whether the WSF has also become a Kumbh Mela for those who are not part of the fast expanding Corporate Empire.

The WSF charter of principles describes it as an open meeting place for reflective thinking, democratic debate of ideas, formulation of proposals, free exchange of experiences and interlinking for effective action, by groups and movements of civil society opposed to neo-liberalism and to domination of the world by capital and any form of imperialism, and are committed to building a planetary society directed towards fruitful relationship among humankind and the earth.

Great expectations, isn’t it?

WSF has surely grown over the years. It continues to gather strength into a permanent process of dissent against globalisation. It continues to voice opposition to the marginalisation of the democratic space. It also has turned into the biggest show of strength of anti-globalisation forces from across the world. And in lot many ways, provides the same kind of space for reflection and thinking to the social activists that the Kumbh Mela provides to the religiously devout.

If there is one overriding theme that comes out of the WSF process is the need for greater democracy, genuine democracy. Not the kind of democracy that prevails all over the world today, the democracy that has become subservient to the financial institutions and the corporates. Not the kind of democracy that actually facilitates the process of greater control of the financial institutions and trade.

The kind of democracy that prevails today, spearheaded by the world’s only super power, has put to shame what was once proposed by one of the greatest champions of civil liberties, Abraham Lincoln: "democracy is of the people, by the people and for the people". The neoclassic have now for all practical purposes redefined democracy: "of the industry, by the industry and for the industry."

The challenge therefore is huge. And this challenge needs sure action, and no more debates and meetings. The massive effort that goes into the WSF has to be redirected to formulation a plan of action. The peoples voice has to be mobilized in a way that it begins to bring about changes. The energy that accumulates at the WSF has to be harnessed in a way that it makes the world begin to glow, the first spark being thin and bright. It requires the first small step that can lead the march towards equal growth for one and all.

This can only happen if the WSF leadership shifts from the rich and powerful NGOs to mass movements. This can only happen if the NGOs (operating like the artillery in military operations) take the back seat, and provide the logistic support to the social movements. This can only happen if the civil society groups for once forgo their differences (and egos) to form a coalition. It can only happen if the civil society also learns to take a collective position, a plan of action that goes much beyond the small compartments that have been created in the alternate thinking.

It will not happen if a small group of elite and resourceful thinkers and activists come together to form a club, and then treat everyone else as the members. Such a process of transformation cannot be imposed from the top by a handful of powerful NGOs, who oppose monopoly control but spare no effort to monopolise the entire process of dissent. The undemocratic way in which some of the NGOs and civil society groups have taken control of the global leadership against globalisation is what is coming in the way of making another world possible.

The challenge is there. The great expectations can be realized. Only if we begin to set our house in order before we venture to change the world.