World Social Forum Kicks Off in Brazil

Brian Finnegan of the Solidarity Center, left, and Steelworkers member Patrick Young get ready to march in the rain at the World Social Forum.

Brian Finnegan and Gladys Cisneros of the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center report from Belem, Brazil, where the World Social Forum began this week. The World Social Forum, launched in 2001 as an alternative to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, allows grassroots activists to debate and develop proposals to make the global economy work for everyone.

The World Social Forum opened Jan. 27 with thousands marching through relentlessly heavy rain in the Brazilian city of Belem. The downpour did not deter the drums and dancing of the crowd that advanced from the restored old Amazon waterfront docks to the Workers Square four miles away.

Members of the Brazilian national labor centers—CUT, Força Sindical and UGT—were joined by thousand of local and international labor, youth, environmental, indigenous, cultural and community activists of all ages. The Brazilian national labor centers are similar to labor federations like the AFL-CIO. U.S. labor participants included representatives of the Solidarity Center, United Steelworkers, Jobs with Justice, United Students Against Sweatshops and the United Electrical Workers.

Nearly 100,000 people are expected to participate in the forum, which brings together unions and activists from as many as 180 countries between Jan. 27 and Feb. 1. The World Social Forum, a mainstay of the global justice movement, is held every year at the same time as the World Economic Forum, a meeting of heads of state, financial ministers and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland. The Social Forum brings together civil society organizations from around the world in presenting solutions to economic and political challenges under the banner “Another World is Possible.” In contrast to the World Economic Forum, the World Social Forum calls for participation of all of the world’s people, not just the rich elite. 

While most of the world’s heads of state preferred to attend the economic forum, some leaders of major Latin American countries are participating in this year’s social forum. On the evening of Jan. 29, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will convene a meeting with three other Latin American presidents—Evo Morales of Bolivia, Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.

Belem was chosen for this year’s World Social Forum to focus on the strategic importance of the Amazon region to the future of humanity. The Amazon, the world’s largest rain forest, has long been referred to as the “lungs of the world” because of its important role in turning carbon dioxide into the oxygen that we breathe. The region is also an important source of biodiversity and the source of many plants and life forms that provide ingredients for medicines like penicillin and many others that have not yet been discovered. 

Through panels and roundtables, participants will discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by the current global economic crisis. With families in the United States and around the world devastated by layoffs, plant shutdowns and foreclosures, this global economic crisis confirms that now, more than ever, another world is not only possible, but is absolutely necessary. The crisis also calls on labor unions and community organizations from around the world to collaborate across national boundaries in proposing new economic and political solutions that will put people, communities and the earth before profits.

Also throughout the week, meetings, forums and panels will bring together activists and organizers from around the world to talk about topics ranging from local community issues to international financial institutions. This is an exciting opportunity for the American labor movement to learn about and collaborate with our union brothers and sisters and civil society organizations from all around the world.

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