This text is the initial result of the 1st which took place in Belém on 26-27 January 2009.
It has been written and accepted by citizens of 18 countries from 4 continents. It initiates an open and inclusive global process that seeks to build an international network of movements, organizations (…)
Tous les articles et traductions
WSF had a prophetic voice
Walden Bello interviewed by Gabriel Elizondo
As the WSF was winding down in Belem in Brazil, Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo spoke with Walden Bello about his thoughts on this year’s meeting.
Al Jazeera: How has the 2009 World Social Forum different from the past years’?
Bello: This represents the triumph of the World Social Forum over (…)
World Social Forum: Resolution and a Plan of Action
The World Social Forum ended its ninth edition on February 1 in Belém with its "Assembly of assemblies" adopting dozens of resolutions and proposals to be the subjects of a programme of mobilisations around the world in 2009.
The 21 thematic assemblies thus broke the apparent WSF taboo on (…)
Crisis without Limits: Human Rights and Humanitarian Consequences of Political Repression in Zimbabwe
January 2009
Zimbabwe is in a humanitarian crisis that is the result of a political crisis. A cholera epidemic has-as of January 12, 2009-left over 39,000 people infected and at least 2,000 dead, with the disease spreading to neighboring countries. This marks both the collapse of Zimbabwe’s healthcare system (…)
Israel: Boycott, Divest, Sanction
It’s time. Long past time. The best strategy to end the increasingly bloody occupation is for Israel to become the target of the kind of global movement that put an end to apartheid in South Africa.
In July 2005 a huge coalition of Palestinian groups laid out plans to do just that. They called (…)
Civil Society Intervention in the Reform of Global Public Policy
Proceedings from the IRG/Ford Foundation international seminar, Paris, 17-18-19th of April 2007
Civil society actors throughout the world are increasingly involved in public policy making, on the national as well as the international level. Their strategies and impact was the theme of an international seminar held in Paris in 2007, jointly organized by the Institute for Research and Debate (…)
Paraguay’s Lugo: A Genuine South American Hero and a Worthy Challenge to Brazil
As many Latin American policy analysts have suggested, the election of moderate-left Fernando Lugo and his Alianza Patriotica para el Cambio coalition is yet another manifestation of a South American referendum in favor of a socialist-tinged democracy. Undoubtedly, Lugo’s inauguration marked a (…)
Rich lands, poor people. Is sustainable mining possible?
State of India’s Environment - 6, 2008, $ 50 or e-Book $28, 355 pages
This edition of SoE illustrates the immense challenges facing the mining sector in India: how to ensure ecological security together with inclusive development. It assesses the sector’s efficacy in promoting ’growth’ in mineral-rich areas, while scrutinising government initiatives in (…)
Reflections on the III Americas Social Forum, Guatemala
By Michael Leon Guerrero and Cindy Wiesner Grassroots Global Justice Alliance
The 3rd Americas Social Forum (ASF3) convened October 7-12, 2008 in Guatemala City was an important and exciting benchmark for the global social forum process. It was grounded by its grassroots nature with strong participation of peasants, women, and indigenous peoples, and by the dialogues and (…)
Pacific civil society organisations statement on trade justice
Pacific NGOs, churches and trade unions working on trade justice issues are concerned about the push for free trade agreements in the Pacific and the grave risk that these agreements pose for our people. For much of the past decade Pacific Island Countries have faced pressure from our developed (…)
Recovering internationalisme, Creating the new global solidarity
Institute of Social Studies, January-March 2008, Creative Commons
Peter Waterman (London 1936) is a veteran activist-researcher in and on labour, social movements, the old and new internationalisms. Amongst his recent previous books have been Globalisation, Social Movements and the New Internationalisms (London/New York, 1998/2001) and Los nuevos tejidos (…)
Machhimar Adhikar Rashtriya Abhiyan
Discontent, unrest and agitation engulf the coasts of our country. Fisherpeople, under severe duress, have no other way but to launch a national campaign to conserve the coastal and marine resources and to protect their lives and livelihood. The campaign begins on 1st May 2008. A central (…)
Media, Activism, and Change
Gender and Media Diversity Journal, Gender Links
The fourth edition of the Gender and Media Diversity Journal focuses on the topic of media, activism and change. It explores various aspects of media activism – how media itself plays an activist role and how activists are increasingly using the media more pro-actively on issues as diverse as (…)
Budgeting for the future: Building another Europe European economic policies from a civil society perspective
Edited by Teresa Maisano and Tommaso Rondinella and Transnational Institute, 2008, pdf
Budgeting for the Future, Building another Europe, edited by Sbilanciamoci!, puts forward a critical civil society outlook on the 2007/2013 Financial Perspectives. In order to achieve this goal Sbilanciamoci! decided to create a civil society network, with a European dimension, guaranteeing full (…)
World Social Forum in debate
WSF International Council, march 31st to april 3rd, Aubja, Nigeria
Following the first "Global Day of Action", which took place on January 26th, and after 7 years of existence, the World Social Forum is in debate. A political and strategical debate focused on the process of the FSM, the international situation as well as the anti-globalization’s movement as a (…)
China’s New Role in Africa and the South: A search for a new perspective
Fahamu and Focus on the Global South, 2008, 258pp, £16.95 / US$33.95
China’s global expansion is much talked about, but usually from the viewpoint of the West. This unique collection of essays, written by scholars and activists from China and the global South, provides diverse views on the challenges faced by Africa, Latin America and Asia as a result of China’s (…)
Africa – Europe alternatives, Lisbon, 7-9 december 2007
Towards peoples alternatives in Africa and Europe
We, civil society activists engaged in a wide range of peoples’ movements and organisations in Africa and Europe met in Lisbon from 7-9 December 2007 to express our opposition and resistance to the neoliberal free trade and investment policies that European and African governments are (…)
From Paris 2005 To Accra 2008: Will Aid Be More Accountable and Effective?
This position paper has been prepared by the International CSO Steering Group (ISG) coordinating the “CSO Parallel Process to the Ghana High Level Forum Network”. The ISG coordinating CSO Parallel Process to the Ghana High Level Forum network brings together various local, national, regional (…)
The Forum at the Crossroads
Focus on the Global South
A new stage in the evolution of the global justice movement was reached with the inauguration of the World Social Forum (WSF) in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in January 2001.
The WSF was the brainchild of social movements loosely associated with the Workers’ Party (PT) in Brazil. Strong support for (…)
Lebanon : aggression and resistance
Final Report of the International Civil Society and Parliamentary Peace Mission to Lebanon
At the height of the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon, a call came from civil society groups in that country asking the international community to send peace delegations to bear witness to the ongoing destruction of a nation and demonstrate solidarity with the Lebanese people in their hour of (…)