The texts on the past, present and future perspectives of the World Social Forum Los textos sobre las perspectivas pasada, presente y futura del Foro Social Mundial

 
 
Picture of Vera Vratuša
Francine Mestrum: WSF International Council Meeting 10-11 T63
by Vera Vratuša - Monday, 23 November 2020, 12:00 PM
 

Publié le octobre 13, 2020

Consensus points:

  • The WSF is “alive”. There is consensus on this.
  • The listening process that has been done shows that there is support for the WSF, but not for any WSF. The movements need to meet at the WSF and see the opportunity to strengthen their struggles. A WSF with political expression is needed. And this political expression needs to preserve diversity. Following the logic of dialogue
  • There is a need for the WSF to manifest itself as a global movement, there is expectation of actions in this direction. The Forum needs to articulate local and global struggles, with greater organicity, greater articulation between different initiatives, including reheating less active processes.
  • The WSF needs to be a global political subject, being at the same time an open space for action. It can articulate thematic, regional and global movements. It can be a space of organisation and construction of decision-making processes.
  • The WSF must be a driving force for mobilization, to meet the struggles and the peoples, to contribute directly to social transformation. Some specific actions demand global visibility.
  • Regional assemblies take regional decisions that can be the basis for global action. We can regionalise our own management process, as an IC. Reverse the way we act. Reconvene virtual assemblies to plan the actions to be taken. Consider proposals for regional assemblies, which bring contributions to the IC.
  • The IC must not take decisions alone, it must listen to organisations and movements so that they are involved in decisions on what to face and how to do it. It must involve the movements that have attended recent meetings. “We are all WSFs“, the other forums and the IC should continue to meet procedurally.
  • The WSF needs to make political communication. Communicate to mobilize to mobilize. We must recognise and value the virtual dimension of struggles.
  • The WSF aims to be a global political and social subject.

Non-consensual points:

  • We cannot involve political parties or forces in our Forums.
  • The IC has the task of organising and facilitating the Forums and ensuring that the Charter of Principles is respected.
  • We do not have to discuss the composition of the IC or the Charter of Principles.

Questions submitted after the break: 

  • We agree that the WSF has a role, but what is the role of the IC? Facilitator? But the IC has never done that, it was always the local committees that organized the Forums.
  • We do not know who is in fact at the IC, nor who responded to the Secretariat by saying that they want to remain at the IC.
  • What to do with the facilitator group in Mexico? And with its “dissidents”?

Decisions of the IC regarding next concrete actions:

  1. Virtual event (or face-to-face and virtual), in January: make a wide listening on how to do it. Decisions must be taken by a broader collective than the IC. We must convoke the organizations, networks and movements to build together the January Virtual WSF. (To build an articulated set of struggles that can be a kind of “political synthesis” that mobilizes, aggregates, generates strength. (e.g. the 3 Ts, land, roof and work).) Define a central message to mobilise and aggregate, locally, regionally and globally, gaining a political presence commensurate with our intentions: transform realities.

Immediate action resulting from this decision: The IC should invite movements, organizations, networks and forums to build a broad and joint Virtual (or virtual and face-to-face) WSF in January with the objectives of responding to the serious and urgent challenges of the situation and begin the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the WSF.

  • Hold a face-to-face event in Mexico after the pandemic – face-to-face and virtual. In late 2021 or early 2022. Hold an IC meeting in Mexico, preferably in person, with the organizing collective of the WSF Mexico.

http://openfsm.net/projects/dibco1/dibco1-2020-discusionfsm-input63-en