Are Other Worlds Possible?

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This project is running from April to September 2004 and is funded by DfID's minigrant fund.

Brief Introduction to the World Social forum and the European Social Forum

The World Social Forum (WSF), initiated in Brazil in January 2001 as a challenge to the World Economic Forum in order to put forward another view of the world and its possibilities, is now widely seen as being a highly significant world initiative. The motto the WSF has coined for itself is ‘another World is Possible. … Since 2001 the WSF has moved from being a major event each January in Porto Alegre, timed to challenge the World Economic forum held at Davos, Switzerland, to being a protest and an efflorescence and celebration across the world. …

In November 2002, a European Social Forum was held in Florence, Italy, and some 500,000 to 1 million people marched in a peace rally in protest against the US-led war threatening Iraq. In early 2003, before the third WSF in Porto Alegre, four regional fora were held in various parts of the world – the Asian Social Forum in Hyderabad, India, the Palestine Social Forum, an African Social forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and a Pan-Amazonian Social Forum in Belém, Brazil, as well as several thematic national and city fora.

… The steady growth in numbers attending the world event – from 25-30,000 people at the first one, to 50-60,000 at the second, to 1000,000 at the third – attest the relevance of the Forum to people all over the world. (Quoted from ‘Are other worlds possible? The Open Space Reader.)
The Second European Social Forum was held in Paris from12th-15th November 2003 and its third edition is taking place in London in October 2004. The last World Social Forum was held in Mumbai from 16th to 20th January 2004, where more than 135,000 people gathered. Despite the huge numbers of people getting together to discuss alternatives for ‘Another Possible World’ the Forum received very little coverage by mainstream media in England, which may have contributed to the fact that the general public is not well informed about this ‘Southern’ initiative and its implications.

The idea of the World Social Forum as a ‘Southern’ initiative and a pedagogical space for the collective construction of ‘Another Possible World’ poses important questions for young people in the UK: What is the significance and the implications of the WSF and its related fora in the world and for people in the UK? Whose world is being envisaged? What is the role of British people in its construction? In what ways is the so called ‘North’ seen in the events? What are the implications of this image for people who originated and live in ‘Northern’ countries, as well as those who have migrated to such countries but in a sense have dual (or even multiple) identities ? What are the implications of this image for people who happen to live in ‘Northern’ countries but belong to a larger interdependent / interconnected world made up of myriad migrations ? Is there room for dialogue and critical engagement?

Project Aims and Objectives In the understanding that change and progress will only come through engagement and support from all sectors of society, this project application puts forward an educational programme intended primarily for young adults in self-organised groups in England (e.g. student societies and youth centres) with the aim to address these questions and undertake the following objectives: 1. to raise critical awareness about the World Social Forum (WSF) and the European Social Forum (ESF)amongst young adults 2. to deepen critical involvement in the WSF process (explicitly trying to avoid uncritical engagement as well as critical disengagement) and the issues related to the WSF and the ESF, including the Millennium Development Goals 3. to develop critical and reflexive skills, build capacity in communication and advocacy, encourage independent thinking and informed activism 4. to develop a notion of interdependence, solidarity and shared responsibility 5. to give an introduction to various forms and cultures of political practice and participation 6. to encourage the possibility of a culture of ‘open space’ (as a political strategy) 7. to stimulate the formation of study groups amongst young adults and other interested people to discuss issues related to social movements and political participation 8. to catalyse a network of young people involved in movements related to the Forum

This proposal is based on a similar recent programme in India of a series of seminars on the World Social Forum, the issues with which the Forum is concerned, and the culture and politics that the Forum offers that was designed by Jai Sen, independent researcher and civil actor, Mukul Mangalik, teacher at Ramjas College, University of Delhi, and Madhuresh Kumar, student leader at the university / ex-student of Mukul Mangalik’s presently working with Jai Sen, under the auspices of the History Society Ramjas College, and implemented successfully at different colleges at Delhi University during August-December 2003. One of the outcomes of this project was the publication of the book ‘Are Other worlds Possible? - The Open Space Reader’ compiled by Jai Sen and Madhuresh Kumar with a collection of texts discussed in the seminars. The justification for the project in India can also be held true for the context in the UK. In the words of the organisers of the series :

This series of seminars is proposed in a context where the Forum is yet hardly known in India, neither as an organization / initiative or as a movement it is widely seen to be elsewhere, nor in terms of the interesting culture of politics it appears to offer, the culture of ‘open space’. There has been very little critical public examination in India as yet of the Forum, either as an idea or as a significant world institution.

The proposal of a position of critical engagement (as opposed to critical disengagement and uncritical engagement) was also one of the major strengths of this initiative and it is going to be reproduced in the educational programme proposed in this application:

Given the volatile world context within which the Forum is taking shape, the important initiatives and also positions that it itself is taking, as well as the major challenges it is facing, there is reason to think that the WSF is at a critical juncture. Maybe the Forum as well as the thousands of organizations from across the world that are participating in and supporting it, would do well to take a step back and get a view of the larger picture of which it is one part, one frame.

Different from the New Delhi initiative this application proposes a pilot project in Nottingham that will lead to a semi-distance structured educational programme that will be made available to self-organised groups of young adults through the web for their independent use. It will consist of a series of proposed seminars, which will offer online input materials that should be discussed by the groups themselves following the methodology of the ‘Open space’ (with or without an external moderator).

In the development of this educational programme we aim to bring together educators and activists working in NGOs and Universities in the areas of development and citizenship education and BME groups as well as young adults engaged with the issues dealt with by this project. It is hoped that the network fostered by this project will generate future initiatives that will promote synergy and collaborative work amongst the different groups involved.