WSF 2008: No global, where art thou?

No one seems to have noticed, but the ?no global? movement is still around. Really?

A week ago Vita Europe launched an appeal to find out whether this year?s World Social Forum (or lack there of) meant the end of organised social protest (see here). On the eve of January 26th, date that should mark the culmination of 2008?s week long WSF events Vita Europe has gathered civil society?s reactions to try and find an answer.

According to the organisers, the 2008 WSF is happening, but this year, instead of being concentrated in one location, it will be happening all over the world. Hard to know seeing as no one seems to be talking about it?

Diego Azzi, from Brazil?s WSF, explains that there are several reasons behind the decision to go for a decentralised social forum this year. ?We felt that we had to give local civil society more time before another World Social Forum, so that through localised action it could become stronger? declared Azzi during the WSF press conference in Sao Paolo, who added that ?we also wanted to increase the number of countries being represented at the WSF, from the 60 that were present in Porto Alegre to more than 60 world wide nations. So you see, by promoting discussions, debates and shows locally, mobilization for the social forum is actually greater than in the past ?.

A world social flop
But in Italy civil society is critical of this year?s WSF, and has labelled it a ?flop?. For starters, the press conference that marked the start of this year?s WSF only counted on the participation of 500 groups and organisations. The 2001 Social Forum had brought together more than 800 organisations, and that was if you only counted the Italian ones. Over the course of the past seven years Lilliput, the Italian organisation that made the covers of world wide media and were in many ways the testimonials of the WSF 2001 with their raised hands painted white in sign of peace, has halved in size, due to a drastic decrease in support. And there is more, the Italian Attac website didn?t even mention the WSF until a few days ago, even though they participated in it?s organisation, preferring to give voice to a national protest ?against repression and in favour of social justice?. Altogether the impression one gets is of a low key affair.

Flavio Lotti, spokesperson for the Peace table and organiser of the famous Perugia ? Assisi peace march that takes place every year, says that ?this year there will be no Social forum, it will just be a day of protest?.

But where have all the no global leaders gone? Well they haven?t all disappeared, Marco Bersani, for example, who was one of the 18 members of Genoa WSF?s restricted committee, admits that there has been a ?period of uncertainty? due to the ?political difficulty of finding channels for our social battles?. It is because of this that this WSF is so important, he claims, as it is the first attempt at really localising the movement.

So where is the WSF if not in the media?
Even in Brazil it seems that this year the WSF is a non-event. While in the past the forum was able to bring into its midst not only millions of participants but also future presidents (Lula and Chàvez) this year the decentralized formula only made it into one mainstream Brazilian newspaper ? the Pravda. In Portuguese, naturally. The contrast with the Davos media coverage, which is plentiful, is striking.

While the organizers claim that their absence in the press this year is down to the difficulties involved in covering 109 different activities in 19 Brazilian states, there are also those who say that not featuring in the mainstream media is a sign of strength, not weakness.

Like Raffaella Bolini who is in charge of Arci (Italian cultural and social association) international. ?The lack of visibility in the media? she says, ?proves that the social movement is healthy. We don?t need to be an Event, we can do without the capital E. We can stand alone, we can work locally?.

But does this mean that the Forum?s objectives have changed? Not according to Bolini, who says that the people who have participated this year have done so without the help of capitalism. The Forum?s objectives have remained the same: fighting capitalistic logic.

Political hostages
But civil society is not convinced. Vittorio Agnoletto will be wearing his peace flag on the 26th but even he, who in the past was the WSF?s spokesperson in Italy (2001- 2004) , admits that there has been an eclipse in ?the Movement?. The 26th will still be an important day, according to Agnoletto, as, he says, it will bring activists from across the world together ? from Australia to Latin America. ?But I think that in Italy and in Brazil we are suffering from the friendly government syndrome? he adds. What he means is that that there are two forces at play within the social movement ? one that seeks to influence the government to the point that it considers all its actions in view of the political effect that these may have, and the other that seeks only conflict with who ever is in power. The result? That the social movement has become a political hostage.

Previous World Social Forums achieved almost revolutionary impacts. There is no denying that Porto Alegre marked a turning point in Latin American politics, the progressive governments now in power in the region drew many of the issues they advocate from the Social Forum itself. But today, except for the Pravda, it looks like no one has much to say about the Social Forum.