World Social Forum, Meeting under the slogan "Another World is Possible"
Tens of thousands of globalisation critics opened their alternative to the World Economic Forum, which opened in New York yesterday. Activists from social movements around the world took part in a massive peace march in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Local police estimate that as many as 30,000 people joined the march to open the World Social Forum, which is meeting under the slogan "Another World is Possible". The six-day conference will feature 700 workshops, 100 seminars and 28 plenary assemblies of more than 13,000 delegates.
Fifty thousand participants, from 150 countries, are gathered at the sprawling complex of Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul. The problem of debt in countries in the southern hemisphere, corporate taxation, cultural diversity, water as a public commodity, food security and the role of women in globalisation are among the session topics at the Brazilian forum.
Further marches and demonstrations of workers and peasants are also expected. These will be led by the Brazilian mass organisations, CUT (Central Union of Workers) and MST (the Movement of the Landless), which are among the key organisers of the WSF.
Brazilian Workers' Party leader, and presidential hopeful, Luiz Inacio da Silva said that the conference in Porto Alegre is marked by plurality and openness in contrast to the high security that has marked the World Economic Forum in Davos in recent years.
High profile guests expected at the gathering include the linguist, philosopher and commentator, Noam Chomsky, Indian physicist-feminist, Vandana Shiva, Canadian people's advocate, Maude Barlow, and Egyptian intellectual Samir Amin.
