Global activists January 2003

World social forum:

World Social Forum February 2001, the first social forum gathered in Porto Alegre under the title Another World is Possible. It brought together some 12,000 people from 120 countries to coincide with the annual gathering of senior world politicians, financiers and multinational entrepreneurs at the Swiss resort of Davos to discuss the state of the world economy Porto Alegre has become an important moment in bringing together those who believe this form of globalisation is undermining human well-being and democracy around the world,(Peader Kearby, IT 16 Nov, 02)

Port Alegre Porto Alegre was chosen as the site for its first two meetings since the city government has been run by the Workers' Party for over a decade. Under its rule, the city has become famous throughout Latin America for its innovative and highly successful experiment in participative democracy, including an elaborate process of citizen involvement in drawing up the annual budget

World Social Forum World Social Forum (WSF), which showcases an alternative economic order, based on equality and social justice. in Porto Allegre in Brazil, Jan 2003; the six-day event has already gathered 100,000 people from 156 nations under the banner "another world is possible” a forum for critics of the present system of globalised capitalism. alternative vision is gathering pace worldwide, as free-market economics deliver declining living standards and the erosion of democratic rights. Latin America has turned to the left in recent times, in search of a government that can provide basic needs without incurring the wrath of the US, the sole global superpower.

World Social Forum At last year's Porto Alegre forum two clear tendencies emerged among the major speakers and 80,000 participants. The dominant one opposes existing neo- liberal globalisation in the name of strengthened national sovereignties and state economic involvement as the best way to regulate it. The second opposes national solutions and seeks a democratic globalisation instead

Fo or against globalisation: Richard Falk calls it "globalisation-from-below". He sees in the emergence of a global and politically active civil society the possibility for a more humane form of globalisation. "globalisation-from-above", which he describes as "the way in which transnational market forces dominate the policy scene, including the significant co-optation of state power".

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva "We plan a new social contract in Brazil but so also do we need a global pact to lessen the gap between rich and poor."

World Economic Forum ( Davos a key annual event in networking the leading proponents of what we can call "real existing globalisation",

WEF Davos, January 2003 Non-governmental organisations are taking part in the alternative Public Eye on Davos meeting ( just up the road from the WEF's annual meeting) said they want politicians to target the worst cases of unethical behaviour An opinion poll commissioned by the WEF indicated that 91 percent of young people in 33 European countries trusted NGOs to operate in the best interests of society. Global companies came bottom of the ranking

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva poverty, misery and hunger are the trigger for many kinds of fanaticism and intolerance in today's world His call in Davos for the launch of a global fund against poverty and his strong criticism of market protectionism by rich countries come as a breath of fresh air to a world increasingly worried about the political and economic consequences of a US-led war over Iraq

Two perspectives: radical versus mainstream tensions between radical and mainstream policies are symbolised by Lula's decision to open the left-wing World Social Forum in Porto Alegre and then to go on to address the establishment World Economic Forum in Davos. Will he be able to ride the two perspectives over the next four years? (Gillespie, IT, Jan 18 ’03)

Tina versus Tony Tina: there is no alternative ( Thatcher) Tony: take orders from New York in the name of economic growth, corporate power has dangerously eroded public authority over the market.