Civic Learning in the Social Forums

Democratic Education through Global Protest

Donatella della Porta, European University Institute, Italy & 

Nicole Doerr, Free University Berlin, Germany 

The World Social Forum (WSF) is a space of learning for global democracy created by social movements all over the planet, with particular inspiration from activists in Latin America and elsewhere in the South. The initiative presents itself (on its website) as ‘an open meeting place where social movements, networks, NGOs and other civil society organisations opposed to neo-liberalism and a world dominated by capital or by any form of imperialism come together to pursue their thinking, debate ideas democratically, formulate proposals, share their experiences freely and network for effective action’. In short, the WSF invites people to imagine global justice ‘from below’.

Global meetings of the WSF have taken place since 2001 at sites including Porto Alegre, Mumbai, Caracas, Bamako, Karachi, Nairobi, Belem and Dakar. In addition, other Social Forums have met regionally (for example, in Amazonia, Asia and Europe), nationally (for example, in India and the USA), and locally across the globe. Although Social Forums have received little attention in mainstream media and research, hundreds of thousands of people have participated. Activities at a Social Forum include marches, exhibits, performances, camps and more. Tens of thousands of activists, representing thousands of social movement organisations from all over the world, meet in small workshops as well as large assemblies to discuss ideas of another world and ways to achieve it.

Ten years of Social Forums suggest some important lessons regarding learning for global democracy. One is the importance of respecting difference. Spaces of diversity such as the Social Forums train people in a format of citizenship that accords equal value to different competencies, skills and forms of knowledge. Social Forums regard heterogeneity in the forms and sources of knowledge not as a liability to understanding, but as a rich resource. Moreover, the appreciation of diversity as a positive value assigns particular importance to listening across differences in Social Forum events.

As part of this celebration of diversity, Social Forums as spaces of learning for global democracy have shown special commitment to multilingualism. Where some have proposed English as a global lingua franca, Social Forums use multilingual translation to work together more democratically and produce knowledge that makes visible the experiences of different groups and cultures. In contrast to elite frameworks of global education, transnational Social Forum meetings work in different languages. Such multilingual learning not only enlarges vocabularies and increases reflexivity, but also increases cognitive learning benefits among participants.

Social Forums also demonstrate the exciting possibilities of learning for global democracy found in horizontal exchanges among diverse social movements. Anarchist and feminist experiences in particular have fostered anti-hierarchical spaces for mutual learning in the Social Forums. Likewise, the Porto Alegre process of the World Social Forum in Brazil has created synergies between religious, traditional left, indigenous and landless people’s movements from different urban and rural contexts. Since learning in the Forum allows long-divided groups to exchange their knowledge and experiences, the process is both challenging and transformative.

Engagement with new media can expand the reach of learning for global democracy through the Social Forums. Although many movements lack material resources and access to institutions, they can use the Internet to build alternative public spaces for radical democratic and multilingual learning. A further challenge is how movements can use new information and communications technologies in the Social Forums to reach out to wider publics who do not currently participate.

The Social Forum experience also underlines the need for proactive measures to promote gender equality in learning for global democracy, even in a context of progressive social movements. Many Social Forum assemblies have frustrated participants when they feature an overrepresentation of male, white, middle-class speakers. Acknowledging the risks of exclusion, some social forums such as United States Social Forum have developed an intentional practice of radical democratic organising, in order to implement a respect of differences. As a result their grassroots leaders include sexual minorities and women of colour. Regional Social Forums in Europe have introduced a gender quota and provided solidarity funding to enhance participation of less privileged women and non-western Europeans.

Together the above observations indicate that learning for global democracy through Social Forums is a complex process with distinctive contributions but also its own challenges. Participants in these gatherings stress the need to explore the internal contradictions of the Social Forum, such as hierarchies within decision-making in the organisational meetings. Participants also often disagree on the meaning of the WSF’s Porto Alegre Charter principles, leading to hard and enduring conflicts also among the organisers themselves.

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