By Mario Osava
MUMBAI, India, Jan 16 2004 (IPS)

Brazil has enthusiastically passed the World Social Forum ball to India, which has already scored a goal, even though the national sport here is not football, but cricket.

The unity achieved by different groups, castes and political movements that otherwise divide Indian society is a triumph of the World Social Forum, occurring even before the global conference got underway Friday, Oded Grajew, one of the Forum’s promoters and a Brazilian member of its International Council, told IPS.

“If a Martian landed on Earth, one of his first questions would be how so few people have come to dominate the world,” and there are two basic conditions for that dominance: the control of minds and the division of the population, says Grajew, head of the Brazilian Ethos Institute, which promotes social responsibility in the corporate world.

According to Grajew, the preparations for this WSF, overcoming the divisions that weaken society, reflect the spirit of the global meeting of social movements and organisations, which have gathered three times annually – until this year, always in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre.

An example of this unity was a colourful parade of numerous Indian groups Thursday down the dusty central avenue of Nesco, an older, deactivated textile industry centre that is serving as the venue of the WSF.

Moving the Forum to India this year was an idea promoted by the Brazilian organisers themselves since 2002. They saw it as a necessary step for the “globalisation” of the gathering of the world’s social movements. And they have already seen their forecast of 75,000 participants surpassed.

Participation of activists from the Americas and Europe is limited in Mumbai, but that is compensated by the regional forums held on each continent. The European Social Forum, he noted, drew more than 50,000 people to Paris two months ago.

Mumbai “will consolidate the WSF as a global process,” by overcoming the challenge of “getting out of Brazil and growing,” says Francisco Whitaker, representative of the Roman Catholic Church’s Justice and Peace Commission on the Brazilian organising committee and on the WSF International Council.

The Indians adopted the spirit of “unity without homogeneity or a central command” of the WSF, laying the foundations for an unprecedented experience in the country, one of collaboration amongst groups and castes that previously did not seem willing to engage in a joint effort, commented Whitaker, who champions action in networks, versus action through hierarchical structures.

The Dalit, also known as the “untouchables” because they are considered an inferior caste, are participating in the WSF process “as equals, which is an historic event,” said the Brazilian delegate, applauding the hosts for their innovations in some aspects of the Forum’s programming.

The scheduling changes in the Mumbai programme give greater visibility to the workshops and seminars organised by grassroots activists. At the past WSF, these events were often drowned out by the conferences and panels in which celebrities of the civil society movement participated, Whitaker said.

This fourth Forum reduces the deficits of “globality” and social balance that have affected the representivity of the WSF, says Cândido Grzybowski, based on a study conducted by the non-governmental organisation he heads, IBASE, the Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analysis.

“Profile of Participants”, released last week, shows that at the 2003 WSF in Porto Alegre geography determined participation. Of the 100,000 people who took part in that event, 85.9 percent were Brazilian, and most of the foreign participants came from neighbouring or nearby countries, especially Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay.

Taking the WSF to other continents is essential for globalising the dialogue of civil society, says Grzybowski.

Also expected in Mumbai is greater participation by the poor, who are much more numerous and better organised in India, he noted. In contrast, at the WSF held last year in southern Brazil, 73.4 percent of the participants had studied at the university level, indicating that the event drew an intellectual elite, and therefore also an economic elite, he said.

The WSF organisers from Brazil do not regret at all that the Forum has been moved to another country. On the contrary, they seem happy to hand over to the Indians “the baby that needs to be well fed and cared for in order to grow,” says Whitaker.

And the marches that have taken place at the Mumbai WSF location leave no room for doubt: it is the people – whether protesting, celebrating or demanding recognition of their rights – who are the protagonists.

The Brazilian government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also sees it as positive that the 2004 World Social Forum is taking place in Asia, because it “helps strengthen civil society” and expands horizons through experiencing a different reality, says Carlos Tiburcio, an organiser of the first two WSF and currently a special adviser to Lula.

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