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> *MESSAGE**TO THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM**: SECOND MANIFESTO OF PORTO
> ALEGRE -**FROM AN OPEN SPACE TO A SPACE FOR ACTION*
>
>  We,Frei Betto, Atilio Borón, Bernard Cassen, Adolfo Perez Esquivel,
> Federico Mayor, Riccardo Petrella, Ignacio Ramonet, Emir Sader,
> Boaventura Santos, Roberto Savio,  Aminata Traoré, are the signatories
> of the Declaration of Porto Alegre, in the WSF of 2005. We have lost
> since then wonderful friends (Samir Amin, Eduardo Galeano, Samuel Ruiz
> Garcia, Francois Houtart, Josè Saramago, Immanuel Wallerstein).But we
> have shared a lot with them, and we are convinced of what they would
> think today. Those we are still alive have decided to send this
> message to the WSF, to provide one more element of stimulus and
> reflection. The spirit of our initiative is well represented by the
> message of participation to the initiative, written by the Peace Nobel
> Prize, Adolfo Perez Esquivel: “/Thanks for the initiative to revive
> the hope and the strength of the WSF. For some time, we have been
> thinking of something similar, to find again paths that would identify
> us with the diversity in thinking and in actions, to face the
> challenges of our time. Dear brothers, I join my signature, and I give
> you a warm hug”///
>
> Is the World Social Forum, which celebrates its 20^th anniversary in
> 2021, just an open space or can it (should it) also be a space for
> action? This question has been discussed for years in the WSF
> International Council, and so far, it hasnot been possible to reach a
> conclusion.
>
> At the Porto Alegre WSF, back in 2005, a few of us launched the “Porto
> Alegre Manifesto” voicing concern about the growing marginalisation of
> the WSF on the global stage. We knew that this broke the Forum’s rule
> against making declarations, but we felt that this would be a way to
> contribute the rich debates at Porto Alegre, to international
> politics.The following year, the "Bamako Call" was issued in a similar
> vein. Neither of these calls received a response.
>
> Fifteen years on, our concerns were shown to be quite real. The Forum
> began in 2001, thanks to the generous and visionary work of the
> Brazilian group and the support they then received during Lula's
> presidency. Progressive internationalisation brought the WSF to every
> continent. The idea of opening a space for social movements, and for
> critical intellectuals exchanging experiences and ideas, to dispute
> the hegemony of neoliberalism, was a revolutionary one. This had a
> significant global impact. Contravening the threat of a US war against
> Iraq, the WSF demonstrated its immense potential by calling for
> massive, globally coordinated marches to reject the war. However,
> these kinds of initiatives were not continued.
>
> Unfortunately, even now, almost two decades later, the WSF has not
> accepted any change to its rules or practices. The idea of an open
> space, impeded from interacting with the outside world as a global
> political actor, left the Forum as a marginal player. It is no longer
> a point of reference. In recent years at least three major popular
> movements have mobilized millions across the globe: the fight against
> climate change, for gender equality, and against racism. In these, as
> a global collective actor, the WSF has been completely absent. However
> the founding idea of the WSF, to combat neoliberalism from a holistic
> vision (and in a non-sectoral manner) has lost neither its strength
> nor its validity. The same goes for the WSF’s struggles against
> colonialism and the patriarchy, and calling for the respect of nature
> and of the commons.
>
> Action is required. The world has changed, and not for the better.
> Today, not only do we face the devastating consequences of forty years
> of neoliberal capitalism, we are also dominated by the financial
> markets and threatened by rapid climate change whichcould make human
> life on Earth impossible. Mass poverty and growing inequality divide
> our societies, as do racism and discrimination.
>
> Resistance is also growing. In 2019 we have seen an overwhelming surge
> in movements, mainly from youth, in many major cities around the
> world. They know that the old world is dying, and they’re impatient to
> build another just and peaceful world, where all men and women are
> equal, conserving nature and with an economy subservient to society’s
> needs. They are preparing many alternatives, but they lack a space in
> which they can come together, to create common global narratives,
> based on grassroots experiences, capable of driving future actions.
> Progressive activists and academics are so fragmented that they not
> only risk just losing the battle, but also the war.
>
> COVID-19 is yet another crisis, albeit one that for the first time
> affects everyone simultaneously, although not with the same intensity.
> The world has become a village, one in which we are all
> interdependent. Never before has it been so clear that we must, in
> fact, act, and we must do it together. The World Social Forum still
> has significant potential to give voice to these movements, to help
> them put their alternatives in a global context and allow these new
> conversations and practices to converge. For this reason, we who have
> participated in the WSF since its inception, who have signed the
> declarations of Porto Alegre and Bamako, are calling for a "renewed
> World Social Forum". We face a multidimensional global crisis; local,
> national and global actions are required, with all the necessary
> articulation between these levels. The WSF is the ideal framework to
> encourage action. Thatis what this initiative is all about.
>
>
>
>
> Teivo Teivainen
>
> Professor of World Politics
> Faculty of Social Sciences
> Unioninkatu 37, POB 54
> 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland