Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The World Social Forum (WSF) is a collectively organized set of meetings around a broad range of social justice concerns. It includes participation by small grassroots groups and organizations, local and international non-governmental organizations, religious groups, students, and activists worldwide. There are no official officers or representatives of the WSF but rather a set of international organizing committees guided by a Charter of Principles that was founded on the conviction that “another world is possible.” Fundamentally critical of neoliberalism as a primary cause of global injustices and inequities, the Charter of Principles is the single written document that participants agree upon to attend the WSFs. The WSF originated with a collaboration of Latin American and European professional activists to create a counter-summit to the late January meetings of the World Economic Forums (WEFs) that have taken place since 1971. The WEF is widely criticized for lacking transparency and democratic representation in a space where economic and political relationships and projects are forged by elites that affect populations globally. As a novel form of social movement organizing, the WSF and the regional, national, and local forums that it has generated offer transparency and welcome the participation of the most marginalized groups in the development of global projects. The WSF ... log in or subscribe to read full text