|
Vol.
XXVI No.
December
|
People’s DemocracyINTERVIEW
WITH
CHICO
WHITAKER
Another
World
Is
Possible
Francisco
Whitaker
Ferreira,
or
Chico
Whitaker
as
he
is
better
known
both
in
his
home
country
Brazil
and
the
world
over,
is
a
leading
social
activist
and
one
of
the
founding
figures
of
the
World
Social
Forum
(WSF)
—
a
movement
against
capitalist
globalisation
and
neo-liberal
economic
policies.
The
first
WSF
was
first
organised
in
2001
in
the
city
of
Porto
Alegre
in
Brazil
and,
following
popular
demand,
another
session
was
held
in
2002.
Now
the
WSF
is
slated
to
become
an
annual
event
—
a
reflection
of
the
growing
strength
of
this
movement.
Chico
Whitaker
was
recently
in
Delhi
at
the
invitation
of
WSF-India.
D
Raghunandan
of
Delhi
Science
Forum,
which
is
a
part
of
the
WSF
Secretariat,
spent
considerable
time
with
him
over
two
days.
Highlights
of
this
interaction
covering
different
issues
are
reported
below.
On
Background
&
Other
Activities
WELL,
my
basic
work
these
days
is
as
executive
secretary
of
the
Brazilian
Committee
of
Justice
and
Peace,
which
is
an
organisation
working
on
human
rights
issues.
While
these
issues
have
always
been
important
in
the
Brazilian
context,
today
they
are
even
more
so
when
peoples
rights,
especially
those
of
indigenous
peoples,
are
being
trampled
upon
in
the
name
of
neo-liberal
economic
policies.
In
earlier
days,
when
Brazil
was
under
military
dictatorship
and
many
activists
including
myself
were
engaged
in
opposing
the
dictatorship,
my
wife
Stella
and
I
were
forced
to
spend
15
years
in
exile
—
5
years
in
France
and
the
rest
in
different
parts
of
Europe.
I
am
associated
with
the
Catholic
Church
in
Brazil
and
what
is
popularly
known
as
the
“radical
theology”
movement
which
holds
that
true
religion,
especially
Christianity,
basically
means
working
for
the
upliftment
of
the
poor,
fighting
for
their
rights
and
against
the
exploitation
of
the
have-nots
by
the
haves.
I
have
also
been
active
in
the
Workers
Party
(Partido
dos
Trabalhadores
or
PT)
in
Brazil
and
have
even
held
elected
office
as
Councillor.
On
the
Birth
of
the
World
Social
Forum
Protest
movements
the
world
over,
by
numerous
different
sections
in
both
developed
and
developing
countries,
have
been
building
in
opposition
to
the
process
of
globalisation
dictated
by
the
interests
of
international
capital
and
against
the
neo-liberal
economic
policies
which
countries
are
being
forced
to
adopt.
The
idea
grew
of
organising
some
event
which
would
bring
together
all
these
disparate
protest
movements
in
a
global
conclave
for
sharing
their
experiences
and
to
forge
a
better
mutual
understanding
of
an
alternative
future.
It
was
also
noted
that
a
World
Economic
Forum
is
organised
every
year
at
Davos
in
Switzerland
where
political
and
corporate
leaders
gather
to
maintain
and
increase
the
domination
of
capital,
which
they
control,
over
human
beings
of
the
whole
world.
This
gave
rise
to
the
idea
that
a
World
Social
Forum
be
organised
on
the
same
days
with
the
slogan
Another
World
Is
Possible
and
to
share
this
vision.
In
the
first
WSF
meeting
in
2000
in
the
city
of
Porto
Alegre
in
Brazil,
4,000
delegates
and
20,000
participants
from
many
countries
attended
—far
more
than
the
organisers
had
anticipated.
Another
35,000
people
from
Porto
Alegre,
other
places
in
Brazil
and
neighbouring
countries
also
came
just
to
see
and
hear
in
person
the
people
they
admire
and
to
enjoy
the
energising
atmosphere
of
this
huge
worldwide
meeting.
This
first
WSF
was
such
a
great
success,
and
its
message
was
heard
so
loudly
across
the
world,
that
a
second
meeting
was
held
in
2001,
attended
by
15,000
delegates
representing
4,909
entities
and
movements
in
131
countries,
with
another
50,000
non-delegate
participants.
The
idea
of
World
Social
Forum
had
come
to
stay,
and
it
has
now
become
an
annual
event.
On
What
Makes
the
WSF
Special
What
has
attracted
so
many
delegates
is
the
innovative
character
of
the
Forum,
which
is
pluralistic
and
non-directive,
unifying
while
respecting
diversity
and
openness.
Subjects
for
discussion
in
conferences,
seminars
and
workshops
are
decided
upon
by
the
participating
organisations
themselves,
without
any
agenda
being
centrally
decided
upon
in
advance.
The
Forum
thus
provides
a
horizontal
space
in
which
ideas
can
be
put
forward
freely
—
without
considering
any
of
these
issues
to
be
more
important
than
others
and
without
anyone
imposing
their
ideas
or
pace
on
the
others
—
to
gain
experience,
deepen
analysis
and
move
forward
in
their
respective
work
of
social
transformation.
The
only
exclusion
is
that
the
WSF
is
not
open
to
government
representatives,
military
(i
e
armed)
organisations
and
political
parties.
While
reasons
for
keeping
the
first
two
out
are
self-evident,
the
reasons
for
keeping
political
parties
away
from
the
WSF
are
several
and
have
met
the
test
of
time.
While
political
party
activists,
such
as
myself,
are
welcome
to
and
do
participate,
parties
as
such
would
tend
to
impose
their
platforms
on
the
process,
leave
little
space
for
small
organisations
or
grassroots
movements
to
be
heard
and
would
like
to
have
final
statements
or
action
points
agreed
upon.
It
was
felt
that
the
WSFs
learning
and
sharing
process
would
gain
by
being
more
open
to
many,
especially
small,
voices,
by
delegates
not
being
pushed
into
tightly
defined
positions
or
having
to
approve
statements
or
collective
motions
while
retaining
their
commitment
to
actions
in
their
own
way.
Thus,
WSF
does
not
take
any
positions
as
the
Forum
itself,
no
one
speaks
on
behalf
of
the
Forum
and
its
meetings
do
not
discuss
and
pass
any
final
documents.
After
the
first
WSF,
these
various
ideas
and
organisational
principles
have
been
crystallised
into
a Charter
of
Principles
agreement,
which
are
now
the
sole
criteria
for
participating
in
the
WSF
events.
On
Future
Plans
There
are
hundreds
of
proposals
in
the
Forum
and
even
some
specific
regional
mobilisations,
such
as
this
year
against
the
Free
Trade
Agreement
for
the
Americas
(FTAA),
or
even
new
reflections
such
as
one
this
year
on
the
inner
change
of
those
fighting
to
change
the
world.
But
all
these
are
local
actions,
which
are
not
by
the
WSF
as
such.
Some
people
also
want
the
WSF
International
Council
to
become
a
new
world
centre
for
the
fight
against
globalisation
and
neo-liberalism,
but
this
would
go
against
the
very
principles
of
the
WSF
which
is
a
process,
not
an
event
or
organisation
directed
by
a
substitute
unique-monolithic
thought
which
would
be
fatal
to
the
Forum.
The
process
now
underway
is
for
regional
or
thematic
forums
to
be
organised
along
the
lines
of
and
leading
upto
the
WSF
2003,
again
in
Porto
Alegre.
In
January
2003,
a
very
important
event
is
the
Asian
Social
Forum
being
organised
in
Hyderabad,
India.
Many
of
us
hope
that
this
will
catalyse
a
process
which
will
lead
to
the
holding
of
the
global
World
Social
Forum
itself
in
India
in
2004.
We
have
all
till
now
been
working
with
the
slogan
Another
World
Is
Possible.
Perhaps
we
will
now
start
to
envisage
and
share
what
this
other
world
will
be
and
how
to
build
it.
