World Social Forum (WSF) could be seen as an inter-continental project of Europe and Latin America in the context of planetary anti-globalisation struggles. In 2000, the WSF was conceived in France by Oded Grajew, a Brazilian entrepreneur associated with others to work the ethical, democratic and social responsibility of enterprises, Susan George of French monthly Le Monde Diplomatique, Bernard Cassen, the head of a French NGO platform ATTAC, an influential Europewide organisation supporting a tax on global financial transactions and Francisco Whitaker, head of an association of Brazilian NGOs. The first WSF was hosted and organised, in January 2001, in Brazil by a Brazilian committee consisting of ATTAC - Citizens Support by Financial Transactions Tributation Action; CBJP - Justice & Peace Brazilian Committee; CIVES -Brazilian Entrepreneurs Association for the Citizenship; CUT - Central United Workers; IBASE - Brazilian Institute of Socio Economical Analysis; CJG - Global Justice Centre and MST - Landless Rural Workers Movement in the city of Porto Alegre in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. They formally secured the support of the municipal government of Porto Alegre and the state government of Rio Grande do Sul, both controlled at the time by the Brazilian Workers’ Party (PT). The Porto Alegre event repeated in 2002 with 55,000 participants and in 2003 with 100,000 participants from all over the world.

The WSF is a counterpoint to the World Economic Forum - a congregation of economic ministers, heads of state and corporate executives held in Davos, Switzerland to discuss free trade and other economic issues. In contrast, the WSF provides spaces, agendas and conditions for all organisations ‘opposed to neo-liberalism and to domination of the world by capital and any form of imperialism, and are committed to building a planetary society centered on the human person’ to come together, to debate and to propose. The Forum by itself does not assume specific positions or actions, but neither is it neutral, as shown in the WSF charter of principles. The participants are free to organize in order to articulate initiatives in their own name as statements, declarations and actions, as long as it’s not confused with the WSF role.

The whirlwind began in Porto Alegre does not seem to have reached its apogee. Regional, thematic and national processes are taking place all over the world, which are bringing together hundreds of thousands of people who are convinced that ‘another world is possible’.

Four broad factors could be identified that have contributed to the phenomenon of World Social Forum. The first is the emergence, in the civil society – a space distinct from market and the State - of new, widespread and influential actors namely, social movements; NGOs and NPOs; advocacy networks; public policy or advocacy networks; and the internationalization of this civil society. Second is the collapse of Soviet Union and other socialist governments leading to the absence of a viable model, central ideology and lead agency for social and political transformation; and the simultaneous weakening of left political forces as hegemonic forces in society. Third is the matrix of globalisation created and controlled by the powerful bloc of multinational companies, international financial institutions and industrialised countries that globalize poverty, competition, homogeneity, subordination, and suicidal rapaciousness. It has thrust upon workers a global division of labour that rests on flexibility and contractualisation, and undermining of labour rights including freedom of association and collective bargaining. Fourth is the emergence of intensive and visible anti-globlisation struggles that began at Seattle in the US in the wake of the November 1999 conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and repeated methodically wherever the high priests of capitalism assembled, which brought together disparate protesters on to a focused action.

The journey of WSF from Brazil to India seems to be natural. Both the countries satisfy the Tocquevillian principle of democracy that active associations are a condition for freedom and equality. Brazil, like many other Latin American countries, has a tradition of vibrant political organizations based on the principles of justice, equality and freedom. India too boasts of a multitude of political and civil society organizations - trade unions, dalit movements, peace movements, environmental movements, women’s movements, movements of victims of development, peoples’ science movements, student movements, youth movements, NGOs. Besides these are social organizations by virtue of ethnic, regional, linguistic and caste diversities of the country. It should be noted that Indian struggles against neo-liberal and imperialist gloablisation is being carried out by these organizations in their own terrains.

The WSF 2004 to be held in Mumbai from 16-21 January 2004 has given the social movements, trade unions, NGOs, social organizations (the old, the new and the contemporary) a unique space to engage and defend their own terrains. The process towards WSF 2004 could be better described as ‘engagement’ because what is taking place is active, vigorous dialogue and positioning of diverse perspectives by various actors and the final accommodation of each others’ perspectives, strengths and weaknesses. The dynamism of the engagement is such that no actor in the civil society is willing to be acquiesced.

The process towards WSF 2004 has already witnessed fierce engagement between traditional movements like trade unions or mass organizations and the new social movements like women’s movements or exclusive informal sector workers; traditional movements and social organizations; NGOs and social movements; NGOs and traditional movements; informal workers’ and formal workers’ organisations; dalits and traditional movements etc. All are in the Indian Working Committee of WSF 2004 as organizations and Indian Organising Committee as individuals. They dialogued, debated, argued and fought to understand the other, rediscover themselves resulting in grand accommodation of perspectives and location of spaces. However, it is too early to say whether on the one hand the left political forces and traditional organized sector started accepting dalit, gender, informal sector and adivasi perspectives espoused by social movements, NGOs and social organisations and on the other the latter could accept the crucial positioning of a transformed former in the struggle against neo-liberalism and imperialist globalisation. An important issue that may have to be dealt with is on how to establish the political accountability of NGOs, who tend to wield greater influence on account of access to financial resources.

Exclusions from the WSF process are significant. Two strands of exclusions are visible; one WSF directed, by virtue of its position on violence and two, self directed, by virtue of the ideological orientations of respective organisations. In early November 2003, the coordinating committee of farmers’ organisations from across India, along with some militant organizations decided not to associate themselves with the World Social Forum. Instead, they are holding a separate ‘Mumbai Resistance-2004’. Another stream of exclusion arises out the anthropocentrism of WSF, sidelining environmental concerns or inadequate representations of environmental movements in India in the WSF process.

Noam Chomsky, after attending WSF 2003 concluded that the conference holds “at least the seeds of the first ‘authentic’ international, the dream of the left and labour movements since their modern origins.” Peter Waterman sees in it the possibilities of Global Social Movement Unionism. Can we say as Arundhati Roy said at WSF 2003, “Another world is not only possible, she’s on her way. And if you listen carefully on a quiet day you can hear her breathing.”

This issue of Labour File explores the phenomenon of WSF 2004 from a labour perspective.