*Gosh, the alterglobalistas ought to be feeling pretty perky about this year's abject collapse of world capitalism. Assuming they can find the money to fly out to their event, that is.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45512
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Crisis as Opportunity for "Another World"
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 21 (IPS) - A World Social Forum (WSF) revitalised by a global crisis that has awakened new interest in the proposition that "another world is possible" - now perceived as either less utopian or more urgently needed - will take place from Jan. 27 to Feb. 1 in Belém, in northern Brazil.
With the economy in free-fall, a more concrete debate will occur in Belém on "the nature of the crisis" and the model of development, according to Cándido Grzybowski, the head of the Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analyses (IBASE) and one of the original organisers of the WSF.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's decision to attend the WSF in Belém on Jan. 29 and 30, instead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, reflects a change in the alignment of forces. (((All you have to do is kinda move the Lula map-pin from one area to another.)))
This year’s edition of the WEF, which brings together the world's business, political and cultural élite annually, will be held Jan. 28 to Feb. 1 under the theme "Shape the Post-Crisis World". The WSF originated as a rival assembly, to protest the WEF’s policies and propose alternatives.
(((Davos, by contrast, not looking any too perky this season. Kind of a non-bling New Modesty thing.)))
"U.S. bankers avoid glitz of Davos, image a concern
"Reuters, Monday January 26 2009
"By Phil Wahba
"NEW YORK, Jan 25 (Reuters) - It used to be a prized invitation for Wall Street CEOs and top government officials. But for the U.S. banking elite, a ticket to this year's World Economic Forum in Davos risks becoming as toxic as the mess left over from the subprime mortgage crisis.
"Up until a few weeks ago, the guest list for the Jan. 28-Feb. 1 annual gathering of the world's leading business and political figures in the Swiss ski village was going to include top executives from the biggest U.S. banks and the leading economics and finance names of the new administration of U.S. President Barack Obama.
But now that list is shrinking fast....
(((I think it would be really edifying to go to Davos when it wasn't infested with bankers.
A Davos full of engineers, wow, that would be great. But never mind – back to the junglized socialists of the WSF:)))
In January 2007, Lula chose to attend the WEF in Davos and skip the 7th WSF in Nairobi, Kenya. It was a gravy-train time of strong global economic growth, soaring commodity prices and plentiful foreign investment in Brazil. The markets seemed to promise prosperity for all.
Now, given the economic, energy, environmental and food crises, the ideas of the WSF appear to be more attractive and realistic.
The choice of Belém, the capital of Pará state and the northeastern gateway to the Amazon jungle region, as this year’s WSF venue, indicates emphasis on environmental and climate issues, as well as social concerns, with the participation of poor and ethnically diverse communities living in the world's greatest tropical forest and freshwater reserve.
The financial crisis that is causing generalised economic slowdown and, in Brazil and other countries, recession, gives a new dimension to the 9th WSF this year. The World Social Forum started in 2001 as an initiative "to counter the globalisation that is now in crisis," Grzybowski told IPS. (((What would happen if you had no globalization to counter? Wouldn't that be a crisis?)))
"A clearer agenda" on alternative development models should emerge from this meeting in Belém, he predicted. Greater "convergence in the debates" is likely, at a forum that has been trying to overcome excessive fragmentation of ideas and actions for several years, he added.
Over 100,000 people (((that's a lot, ladies and gentlemen))) are expected to participate in close to 2,600 activities in Belém, including seminars, conferences, assemblies, cultural activities, marches and other forms of debate and demonstrations, as well as parallel meetings for local authorities and at the Intercontinental Youth Camp.
The forum is to end with a "Day of Alliances," devoted to meetings of coalitions and networks to decide on joint actions. This mechanism is intended to foment links between groups and stimulate active partnerships, an area where little progress was made in previous forums, Grzybowski said. (((By contrast, in Davos World Economic Forum people commonly get along great, but now they're keenly embarrassed to look each other in the face.)))
This year’s WSF is novel simply because it is taking place in the Amazon jungle region, where environmental issues have global effects because it is the planet's largest reserve of tropical forests, fresh water and biodiversity.... (((and, briefly, a tremendous Amazon reserve of left-wing rhetoric.)))
