If the words “social forum” doesn’t sound perfectly vague to you then you’re ahead of me when I first heard what we would be attending in Detroit. After reading a few articles it became apparent that this is because it’s hard to define, it has to be vague. It’s not just a demonstration or a conference or even a dance party, it’s all of these at once. This danceconferenstration first manifested as the World Social Forum in Porte Alegre ,Brazil in June of 2001. It was the mind child of some members of the French organization ATTAC (Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens) as a reaction to what is known as the Battle in Seattle. “The Failure of Settle was the inability to come up with a common agenda, a global alliance at the world level to fight against globalization” says Christophe Aguiton of ATTCA and organizer for the World Social Forum. Due to this frustration after Settle it became apparent that there needed to be a huddle of all of those organizations and individuals who were working towards the reclamation of social, ecological, and economic justice.
As you can imagine this event, as the only one of its kind, drew over 10,000 people representing 1,000 groups, from 120 countries. It was obvious that this was long overdue. And what came out of it was a template for future Forums. Thus was drawn up the World Social Forum Charter of Principles which is a list of fourteen principles that are to be respected while organizing and participating in a Social Forum. Among these is a really good definition of what the Social Forum is. “The World Social Forum is 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 that are committed to building a planetary society directed towards fruitful relationships between humankind and between it and the Earth.”
So, what does this have to do with Detroit? Detroit is a very real example of what globalization and industrial capitalism has to offer the working class. This city has been exploited and abandoned by industry and its corporate counterparts, leaving it incapable of keeping its homes filled and grocery stores open. But Detroit’s reaction is not to act as if all she is is an industrial wonderland gone down to ruins, she’s looking her self in the mirror and is wiping the residue of classism and industry off her cheek. The Forum is not only an attempt to bring activists from around the country to organize as a cohesive movement but to help further cultivate the radical logic and flourishing community that is already happening in Detroit. Many Organizations such as the Southwest Workers Union, Project South, The Ruckus Society, and many more groups and individuals plan to convene in Detroit to learn, speak, share, understand, and create. Through this work we know that all of us that attended will take with them a new idea of what it means to be human in the networkings of this world. Because the Forum will forever sing:” A New World Is
Possible! A New World Is Possible!”, what world do you wish to make?
by Boi
Further Reading on The World and US Social Forum:
http://www.wsfindia.org/?q=node/3
http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/174/30722.html
http://www.ussf2010.org/
