By our correspondent
It is very hard to describe something on the scale of the second World Social Forum. With 15,000 delegates, a similar number at the youth event and possibly another 30,000 participating as observers and on demonstrations, it was on the scale of a very successful demonstration that went on for six days.
The participation was so high for two reasons. One is the scale of popular mobilisation in Brasil – over half the delegates were Brasilian, and Brasilians were probably a higher percentage of the other categories.
The other is the prestige arising from the success of the first conference as a world focus of opposition to and discussion of imperialist globalisation.
It was consciously a place of political diversity, where debate and discussion are emphasised and decisions are restricted to supporting equally broad mobilisations.
Whether any people changed their minds in debates I don’t know, but many certainly learned a lot in the 800 or so workshops. The coming together of people in these numbers also gave a great boost to morale which I’m sure went well beyond those present.
There really is an emerging world-wide opposition to the global bad guys for activists to look towards. The Forum’s slogan ‘Another world is possible’ could be seen as weak by many, but it is quite apt as a starting point when Bush is trying to convince the world that it has no choice.
There were however large gaps in the participation. With large Argentine, French and Italian contingents showing the success of the mobilisers in those countries, they highlighted the weakness from other countries.
African, Asian and former eastern block participation in particular was very weak and must be a question for the organisers of next year’s event (which will be in Porto Alegre). There is a movement developing to hold the 2004 conference in India, but also plans for regional events in different parts of the world.
The political diversity represented at the conference was also great. Well known academics such as Chomsky and Bensaid, NGO leaders and activists such as Bové and Susan George rubbed shoulders with leading liberation theologists such as Frei Betto, various Nobel Peace laureates and the complete spread of radical Brasilian workers’ and peasant opinion.
Kofi Anan sent a senior official and Mary Robinson, UN Human Rights Commissioner, was main speaker at a seminar.
Specifically Brasilian events had some impact on the Forum. The very public split between the right wing Workers Party (PT) mayor of Porto Alegre and the Trotskyist PT State Governor dominated the last day’s headlines in Brasil.
The mayor launched his campaign to become governor with a scurrilous attack on Trots and Stalinists. Two other events during the Forum also highlighted the situation in Brasil.
One was the smashing up of the CUT trade union federation’s offices in Sao Paulo on the Sunday, and the other was an armed attack on the Forum’s cash dispensers, resulting in the death of one robber. The tragic irony of the latter event was lost on nobody.
The Fourth International’s involvement in the event was impressive.
This reflected both the strength of the comrades in Rio Grande do Sul (Porto Alegre is the state capital) and a wider recognition of the event’s importance. Rallies with 600 and 400 participants were organised, the first drawing a large attendance from the PT left.
The emergence of what is, effectively, an annual parliament in opposition to neo-liberalism and barbarism must be a great step forward. Maybe next year larger UK and Irish contingents can be organised.