Social Forum

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Revision as of 10:06, 17 February 2007

First answers to what the World Social Forum is all about are given here: Frequently Asked Questions about the World Social Forum 2007.

It should be kept in mind that there are also regional, national, local and other social forums. All in all, the social forum is the combination of numerous local, national, regional developments, which together form a global social forum process.

The Charter of Principles of the World Social Forum

The committee of Brazilian organisations that conceived of and organised the first World Social Forum, held in Porto Alegre from January 25th to 30th, 2001, after evaluating the results of that Forum and the expectations it raised, considered it necessary and legitimate to draw up a Charter of Principles to guide the continued pursuit of that initiative.

The WSF Charter of Principles (wikisource)

Readings about the World Social Forum

This is a commented list of readings on the WSF as of December 2006, mainly in English, and prepared especially for librarians who would consider involving themselves in the process.

" [...] the World Social Forum process is NOT the latest attempt to create a monolithic "world revolutionary vanguard movement" nor is it a reincarnation of an international "united front" seeking to overthrow, one by one, governments around the world. Such a notion would be a complete negation of the very essence and concept of the World Social Forum as outlined in its Charter of Principles. [...]

Rather, the World Social Forum is, to use a Kiswahili word, a global Jukwaa, in other words, an international PLATFORM, to quote from the Porto Alegre Charter "an open meeting place where groups and movements of civil society opposed to neo-liberalism and a world dominated by capital or by any form of imperialism, but engaged in building a planetary society centred on the human person, come together to pursue their thinking, to debate ideas democratically, formulate proposals, share their experiences freely and network for effective action." (Quoted from http://wsf2007.org/)

In English

Nisula, Laura and Sehm Patomäki, Katarina (Eds.): We, the Peoples of the World Social Forum...

• Relation: Network Institute for Global Democratization (NIGD) Discussion Paper 2/2002
• URL: http://www.nigd.org/libraries/bamako-nairobi/tot-workshop/module2/WeThePeoplesOfTheWSF.pdf
• Published/accessed: 2002/ Accessed December 2006.
• Comment: A concise booklet which entails reflections by participants in the two first WSF events at Porto Alegre, Brazil, 2001 and 2002, plus the text of the "World Social Forum Charter of Principles".

Larmer, Miles: "whose Forum, which Africa?"

• URL: http://www.africansocialforum.org/english/files/fsm/article4.htm
• Published/Accessed: 2004 / Accessed December 2006.
• Comment: Critical reflections by a South African historian on the African Social Forum held in Lusaka, Zambia, 10-14 December 2004.

Glasius, Marlies: "Deliberation or Struggle? Civil Society Traditions Behind the Social Forums"

• Relation: Ephemera, volume 5(2): 240-252.
• URL: http://www.ephemeraweb.org/journal/5-2/5-2glasius.pdf
• Published/accessed: 2005/ Accessed December 2006.
• Comment: The author takes a deeper look into the dual nature of the WSF and its process. This article might be of help to professionals, like librarians, who try find a role for themselves in it.

Marin, Gustavo: "Methodological Contribution to the WSF 2005 Activity-aggregation Process. Attempting to See the Trees and the Forest at the Same Time .."

• Relation: Memoria Viva
• URL: http://www.memoria-viva.org/fsm05/docs/portoalegre2005en.rtf
• Published/accessed: Accessed December 2006.
• Comment: The author shortly reports an experiment in "mindmapping" of a WSF event.

Reyes, Oscar: "World and European Social Forums: A Bibliography"

• Relation: Ephemera. Volume 5, number 2. (The Organisation and Politics of Social Forums)
• URL: http://www.ephemeraweb.org/journal/5-2/5-2biblio.htm
• Published/accessed: May 2005/ Accessed December 2006.

Böök, Mikael: "Librarians and World Social Forum, Unite!"

• Relation: Information For Social Change No. 19
• URL: http://www.libr.org/isc/articles/19-Book-1.html
• Published/accessed: 2004 / Accessed December 2006
• Comment: The author went out to look for information about the WSF in his local libraries.

Jai Sen, Anita Anand, Arturo Escobar, Peter Waterman (Eds.): World Social Forum Challenging Empires

• Publisher: The Viveka Foundation, New Delhi
• URL: http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1557.html
• Published/accessed: 2004 / Accessed December 2006
• Comment: This relatively large anthology of writings and documents from the first years of the WSF (2001-2004) was published at the opening of the WSF in Mumbai, India, 2004.

George, Susan: Another world is possible if...

• Publisher: Verso, London and New York
• Relation: Transnational Institute
• Published/accessed: 2004.
• Comment: A book on the contemporary social movement by one of its leading thinkers and writers.

In French

Cardon, Dominique et Haeringer, Nicolas: "Formes politiques et coopération digitale. Les usages d’Internet par les Forums sociaux"

• Relation: Centre d’études des mouvements sociaux – EHESS; Centre d’Étude et de Recherche en *Sociologie des Organisations - Université Paris-Dauphine
• Published / Accessed: Forthcoming (December 2006)