World Social Forum Report – January 27 to February 1, 2009

Participants at the World Social Forum

CUPW sent a delegation of four activists to the World Social Forum in Belém, Brazil. Most of the workshops and events took place at the Federal Rural University of the Amazon and the Federal University of Pará. The delegation was made up of Toni MacAfee, Regional Education and Organization Officer from the Atlantic, Giuliana Fumagalli from the Montreal Local, Ron Rousseau, President of Whitehorse Local and Donald Lafleur, 4^th National Vice President. CUPE 1979 also sent Sarah Ryan, Communications Specialist at CUPW’s national office.

The Canadian Labour delegation was made up of Sheila Katz (CLC); Linda Silas and Bev Dick (CFNU); Gaétan Ménard and Jason Murphy (CEP); Judith Marshall, Catherine Coumins, Boyd Bussey and Fred Winsor (USW).

 

Prepatory Work

CUPW got a lot of information that was passed on to the delegation from Sister Sheila Katz of the CLC and Marion Pollack at CUPW. Information about the World Social Forum, hotels, Belém, the Canadian delegation and meeting times that helped us prepare. We also held a conference call with the participants and Brother George Floresco who had participated in Porto Alegre. We also got in touch with Brother Rogério Uribe of FENTECT, the union that represents postal workers in Brazil. Brother Uribe was part of a Brazilian delegation that came to Canada in 2006.

We planned to break up into groups to attend as many workshops as possible. A full report would be made available to all levels of the Union.

 

What is a World Social Forum?

I believe that answering this question is key if we want to assess our participation in the most recent WSF, in Belém, and talk about our possible participation in the next WSF and in decentralized social forums.

For starters, the WSF is a space. It’s not an international conference, nor a summit, a meeting or a Woodstock for alter-globalists. The World Social Forum is a space made available to participants. The meetings taking place in that space don’t aim, for example, at producing a final declaration to be signed and applied by all participants. On the contrary, the WSF is a space that fosters discussions and the sharing of ideas. All of this turns the Forum into a powerful instrument that allows us to unveil a new work method. In addition, the WSF has brought back an idea that had all but disappeared from our now sad landscape of militancy: utopia! The creation of open spaces and the many exchanges have led to the awakening of many people and to a renewed sense of militancy for many disillusioned individuals.

The WSF is born out of an intuition that another world was possible. Eight years later, this statement is more accurate and specific: another world is necessary, possible and urgently needed!

The WSF is an ongoing experiment. And we have to defend the WSF experiment to the end. Currently, the WSF as a space is multiplying through the organization of forums throughout the world. The problem is not that the WSF is not relevant, doesn’t make enough demands or doesn’t take positions, but that the movements are in decline and the activists are running out of steam.

Thus, to fully understand what the WSF is all about, it is important to understand some key principles:

1. Space: A space is there to be occupied;
2. Facilitation: To facilitate implies forming a connection with others and sharing ideas on an equal footing; everyone has the potential to learn and has something to share;
3. Self-organization: Implies collective accountability and collective ownership of the program of activities;
4. Networks: Networks bring people together to create alliances in order to overcome passivity;
5. Horizontal Approach: Implies relations of equality.

This analysis of what the WSF is all about was conveyed by Chico Whitaker, one of the co-founders of the WSF, who I met in Belém and who was with us in March 2009.

Further to this preamble, it is important to conduct a thorough analysis of our participation in the WSF.

1. Was our participation active or passive?
2. Did we develop ties with other organizations?
3. Did we overcome passivity and build alliances outside our natural networks?
4. Are we capable of going beyond our structures to move towards a more horizontal approach in our relations?
5. Are we ready to fully participate in this ongoing and future experiment that is the WSF?

 

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Table of Contents

Participants at the World Social Forum... 3
Prepatory Work. 3
What is a World Social Forum?. 4
Introduction to the World Social Forum in Belém... 5
The importance of the Amazon.. 5
Crisis of Capitalism... 6
Activities. 7
Recommendations for Next Time. 9
Practical Aspects. 9
Continuity of the Planning Process. 10
Ethical Considerations. 10
Using the WSF to Build Contacts with Sister Postal Unions. 10
Building Contacts with Progressive Organizations. 11
Workshops on Issues of Importance to CUPW... 11
Interaction with the CLC.. 11
Participation in World Social Forums. 11
Delegations. 12
Thank you.. 13 �