The World Social Forum, for some time at least, created a platform for change. Its motto Another World is Possible challenged the status quo of the neoliberalism and globalization era.

I do not know what happened to that spirit today. As a reminder to the Another World is Possible spirit, I present a writing about WSF in 2003, published in The Jakarta Post.

World social forum, a source of energy

The Jakarta Post Friday, January 31, 2003

It was a rare sight. The Israelis and the Palestinians held hands as they listened to a plea for peace in the Middle East. The Iraqis handed their flag to several American peace activists and then stood side by side as they got a standing ovation. Roads were blocked not because state dignitaries were passing through, but to facilitate tens of thousands of people marching with colorful banner and music expressing their feelings, demands and criticisms.

It was the scene of the opening of the World Social Forum (WSF), in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on Jan. 23. The WSF, according to its Charter of Principles, is an open meeting place for civil groups and social movements that are opposed to neoliberalism, capitalist hegemony and to any form of imperialism, and that are committed to building a planetary society centered fruitful relationships between humankind, and between humans and the earth.

The first WSF in 2001 was held in opposition to the Davos World Economic Forum, where the world’s powerful economic actors play a strategic role in formulating neoliberal thinking.

More importantly, the WSF provides people with an “alternative summit”, a different way of interacting at the international level. Indeed, governments have their meetings and summit under the auspices of international bodies such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The business and financial actors have their WEF, and increasingly exert powerful influence over the international summits of governments. Genuine people participation is minimal (if not absent) in these summits of the powerful. The WSF changed that, it provides a space for people to exchange and debate ideas at the international level.

Being a people summit, WSF is organized in very differently from the summits of the governments and the business groups. At the airport, young volunteers in blue and yellow T-shirts bearing the WSF logos are ever ready to assist anybody, including providing vans for groups if they are requested in advance. They provide maps and answer all your questions. This is not a simple task considering this year the participants reach almost 100,000.

The opening ceremony began with a long march of participants — instead of boring, lengthy speeches (which are full of unfulfilled promises anyway) in a building where you have to go through an X-ray and wear formal dresses if you want to participate.

The participants from various different groups marched from the Central Market to the Ampitheater of Porto Alegre, carrying different banners with different messages, coming together, creating positive energy of unity and solidarity.

There was no negotiation on issues. Anybody and everybody raised their own issues and were respected by others. One group had banners saying “Jobs with Justice”. A large group of people from different countries and movements shouted the slogan “free Palestina”. Yet another smaller group carried posters saying “no to the Iraq war” and branding Bush as a state terrorist.

There were banners and people wearing T-shirts depicting pictures of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, heroes of the left from Cuba. Some groups simply brought flags with their organization’s names and logo. And Yasser Arafat and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil were the heroes of the day, even if only in spirit.

The local public had shown tremendous support as well. Some of them joined the chanting and cheering from the street sides, others decided to join the march. Street vendors sold fruits, cold drinks and snacks, obviously enjoying the extra business. No shops were closed and taxis and buses went on with their business in other segments of the city. Later on at the amphitheater, the Governor of the Rio Grande do Sul state was booed by the Brazilians as he was making a speech.

Now for a comparison with the WEF in Davos. While Porto Alegre deployed security forces merely to facilitate the march and meeting of the WSF, Davos deployed massive troops equipped with cold water hoses to anticipate protests against the WEF.

While the different segments of social movement, raising different issues with different objectives have come together in Porto Alegre full of trust and solidarity, the WEF’s official theme is “building trust”, since there is a growing mistrust of the way world economic is currently governed by the participants of the WEF.

While meetings at the WEF, UN, WTO and other institutions are often closed and manipulative in nature, the WSF has a transparent way of organizing its events. All conferences, seminars, round tables, panel discussions and testimonies were listed and participants were free to attend whichever they want to.

There was is no separate entrance for different delegates, no excessive scrutiny as one enters a certain venue. The UN, for instance, often has different doors for government and non-government NGOs delegations. During the fourth preparatory committee meeting of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Bali, June 2002, NGOs had to make a turn from the main entrance and enter the conference building through another door.

The WSF does not have a draft agreement text to be negotiated on. Instead different groups can come up with different statements on different issues, thus respecting diversity and pluralism. There is no dress code either. The WSF does have some agreed rules and concepts. It has a Charter of Principles and adhering to those principles is the only condition for joining the WSF. However, the Charter of Principles state that WSF does not allow political party representations or military organizations to participate in the Forum. Government leaders and members of legislatures who accept the commitment of WSF may be invited to participate in personal capacity.

One of the most interesting aspects of the WSF is the tremendous support of the governments of Rio Grande do Sul state and the Porto Alegre city. They provide space, funding, transportation back-up and political support.

The public transportation system is air conditioned and on time. It is difficult to believe that  Porto Alegre is a city in a developing country. And while there are problems with registration and information systems, as well as language, nobody complained much since participants know it is not easy to organize a meeting of that size, with mostly young volunteers doing the job.

The public ownership of the WSF is another amazing thing. Brazilians are proud that they conceived and have hosted the WSF for the past three years and therefore they are very friendly and supportive to the foreign delegates, despite the fact that most of the citizens do not understand or speak English. But, humans understand the language of humanity and communication is eased by that belief.

All in all, WSF is indeed a party for the people. And it is not merely partying, but a strong symbolic belief that “another world is possible”, that is a world that respects human rights and the environment, based on democratic international institutions and systems that serve social justice , equality and the sovereignty of peoples.

Being at the WSF simply provided the energy to make one keep believing that another world is indeed possible, and that we have to work to achieve that.