Social Forums

World Social Forum: A new turn in Tunis
The World Social Forum in Tunisia was framed as the alter-globalisation movement meets the ‘Arab spring’. James O’Nions reports back from Tunis on how both sides of that equation are faring

Tunis: A tale of two World Social Forums
The WSF needs updating for a post-Arab Spring, post-Indignado world, writes Nick Dearden. The problems and the possibilities were both on show in Tunisia

European Social failure?
The sixth European Social Forum took place in Istanbul at the beginning of July. Sophie Haydock and James Robertson found it left something to be desired

The Beijing Declaration: Another Economic World is Possible
'Another World is Possible', the familiar slogan of the World Social Forum, is now being put to the test, writes Hilary Wainwright from Beijing. Can the activists and intellectuals of the movements for global justice propose convincing alternatives, drawing on the struggles and experiments of recent years and on interesting historical experiences?

European unions of the people
Giulio Marcon and Duccio Zola survey the resistance to privatisation across Europe, highlighting the role of pan-European trade union initiatives and a growing alliance between social movements and the unions

The three faces of the World Social Forum
After seven years, is it any closer to making another world possible? Anthony Barnett in Nairobi takes an engaged yet critical look at the World Social Forum

We are the European people
An innovative survey of activists across Europe casts light on the successes and failures of the continent’s social movements and the problems and challenges that they face

Europe: bridging the emotional gap
In search of a fresh argument for the left in Britain to become more European in its thinking and organising, I picked an extraordinary book off my bookshelf: 'Europe in Love; Love in Europe' by Louisa Passerini from the European University Institute in Florence.

Tackling EU and Latin American relations at the WSF
Something new is happening in the movement for global justice. Social movement organisations are turning a critical eye toward growing EU-Latin American ties. This is a departure from the almost exclusive focus on US policies in the region. This trend was evident at the World Social Forum (WSF) both in particular workshops and in general discussion among Forum participants.

The fertility of the borders: the Caracol Intergalactika at the WSF 2005
An Intergalactictika 'Laboratory of Global Resistance' has been organised at every World Social Forum (WSF) Youth Camp since Porto Alegre 2002, existing as a convergence centre for horizontal activists from different places to meet, plan and network.

World Social Forum on Trial
With 155,000 participants from 33 different countries, the fifth World Social Forum held in a specially constructed site in Porto Alegre's Marinho Park was bigger than ever, and with a wider geographic spread. Yet the future of the WSF was on trial. Was it becoming its caricature: a kind of political Woodstock, Hugo Chavez pulling the crowds instead of Mick Jagger?

Social forums after London: The politics of language
In the light of the European Social Forum in London, Red Pepper assesses the strengths and weakness of the concept.

European Social Forum: debating the challenges for its future
After three European Social Forums (ESF) we need to step back and ask: what next? The successes and achievements of the European Social Forum (ESF) process stem from the strong desire amongst almost every social justice initiative for a cross border, trans-European way of organising, debating and exchanging ideas. This felt need is being reinforced by accumulated skills at creating new agencies for social change.

A Forum of contradictions: the 3rd ESF
The third European Social Forum (ESF) took place in London from 14-17 October 2004, with over 400 events ranging in their scope from Asbestos to Zapatismo.

The European Social Forum
The European Social Forum (ESF) takes place in London this month. But don't worry: it won't just be boring speeches by political dinosaurs. Follow our simple advice, and you'll be sure to have an unforgettable time.

Your struggle is our struggle
Our first impressions of the World Social Forum (WSF) in Mumbai were the noise, bustle, huge crowds and vast diversity of cultures and nationalities.

From Mumbai with hope
"Can you ask them to go?" an anxious volunteer pleaded with Gautam Mody, trade union organiser turned honest spin doctor for January's fourth World Social Forum (WSF) in Mumbai. A group of politically motivated Buddhists were performing a dance outside the forum's media centre and taking up a lot of space.

Snapshots from the Front Line
Turning up to volunteer at the European Social Forum office on the eve of the Forum, three floors up in an inconspicuous building next to the Stock exchange in central Paris was a journey into the unknown.

It’s time to look east
The contrast could hardly have been more stark. Tony Blair began his 'big conversation' at the end of November with a 40-minute lecture accompanied by a team of Guardian journalists, a smattering of rolling TV news cameras and what appeared to be an audience consisting of Labour councillors and party members. Two weeks earlier 60,000 young Europeans had been engaged in their own big conversation at the European Social Forum (ESF) in Paris.

A democratic forum is possible
Oscar Reyes and Stuart Hodkinson were in Paris in November 2003 for the European Social Forum, where they found 60,000 delegates, plenty of controversy and a common feeling among the grassroots that the forum must undergo radical change

All eyes on Paris
"The sheer volume of people gave me a sense of a growing European movement," says Unison shop steward Lee Turner of the first European Social Forum (ESF) last year. Participating in this new Europe-wide movement for social justice had brought him a powerful sense of a new common identity.

Can we make a people’s Europe?
The social model pioneered in Porto Alegre, Brazil, is celebrated as a template for participatory non-sectarian politics and as a means of disseminating new forms of anti-capitalist thinking and organization. As social movements from across the continent prepare for the European equivalent in Paris, Red Pepper assess the possible highlights and long-term legacy of the event as well as the experience of localized social forums in Italy and the UK.

English mobilisation for European Social Forum gathers momentum
The latest preparatory meeting of the English mobilisation for the second European Social Forum (ESF), taking place in Paris on 12-15 November 2003, was held on 17 May in Newcastle.