Recent years have seen the rise and spread of regional, national, thematic, and global Social Forums (SF), inspired directly and indirectly by the World Social Forums (WSF). Any SF, influenced by the WSF, is conceived as an open space that facilitates the coming together of people to oppose neo-liberalism and the domination of the world by any form of imperialism. They are committed to building a planetary society directed towards fruitful relationships among humankind and between it and the Earth. Indian social and political activism has shown tremendous energy for SFs in these years. Activities of the WSF process in India were initiated in early 2002. The Asia Social Forum was hosted in Hyderabad in 2003 and the WSF in Mumbai in 2004. And now, the proposed India Social Forum (ISF) in Delhi from November 9 to 13, 2006, marks an initiative to further advance the movement against neo-liberal globalisation, sectarian politics, casteism, patriarchy, and militarisation.
The phenomenon of SFs is surprisingly absent in a majority of the countries of Asia and South Asia, even though active civil societies and anti-globalisation movements exist in countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, and South Korea. This seems to suggest that the coming together of an SF is not a necessary corollary of the most favourable circumstances in a country. Instead, it more or less depends upon a felt need of enough number of people and organisations for such a space that is not there in letter or spirit in any given socio-political situation. Thus, it is understandable that the SF processes began in India at a time when the neo-liberal and the Hindu conservative forces were looming large.
Other interrelated strands give a push to the SF process. Opposition to the neo-liberal economic policies has not been new. However, the novelty of the WSF was that it was virtually the first global civil society event that was conceived, and took place, in the South. The location of the South, and its political antecedents, has a continuing relevance to Indian activism. The ISF is also being conceived as a space for deepening the unity of movements in the developing world, and especially in forging an African-Asian solidarity. The event itself is timed to take place a few months before the WSF in Nairobi, Kenya, in January 2007, where for the first time a global WSF event travels to Africa.
Indian social and political activism still draws some of its sustenance from the legacy of anti-colonial struggles, where ideas of a New International Economic Order, an active role for the Third World governments, and self-reliance had been emphasised. Moreover, in the post-Emergency era, Indian democracy has seen not only a survival, but a dynamic growth of socialist and communist party activism of all stripes, and the rainbow `new social movements,’ which are often associated with women’s movements, environment movements, and assertions of Dalits and Adivasis. In the same period, NGOs dealing with environment, human rights, gender, and development issues mushroomed in the country and some of them connected to several United Nations Conferences. Even though different from the SF phenomenon, they have contributed in relating to wider civil society activities at the international level.
Since the unleashing of the neo-liberal economic policies in the 1980s, India has also been witnessing diverse anti-globalisation movements. These have also been the times of the street uprising at Seattle in America, the Zapatista uprising in 1994, the growth of the Workers Party in Brazil, the Ogoni struggle and its solidarity network, and many such movements in various places, which have enhanced the imagination of social movements. In a way, the WSF-India was an idea waiting to happen. Approximately 10,000 participants were expected in Hyderabad; more than 30,000 showed up. And the WSF 2004 in Mumbai had 130,000 participants, with eight conferences, eight panels, 1400 seminars, along with numerous marches, songs and dances, adding to the dynamism of the event.
An open space inspires thousands of people and groups to connect with each other, but the SF’s open space is not a neutral space. It clearly sets out as being against neo-liberal globalisation and for social justice. The Charter of Principles of the WSF further states, “Neither party representatives nor military organisations shall participate in the Forum. Government leaders and members of legislatures who accept the commitments of this Charter may be invited to participate in a personal capacity.” However, politics is integral to SFs, which raises questions on neo-liberal institutions, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Hindu Right, war, Bushism, Manmohanomics, and the new political dispensation in the country. Today when the ISF is being held under a Congress regime, a party which came to power on a combined platform of pro-poor economic policies and anti-communalism, there will be many deliberations on peoples’ issues and struggles, and their relationship to the present !
state of governance in contemporary India.
In a vibrant democracy, a utopian thinking has to interact with grounded social and political activism. The utopian in the Indian scenario can be seen in different forms of Gandhism, socialism, Marxism, Ambedkarism, and others who negotiate with, as well as negate, the current course of development and politics. They all explore new modes of human possibility, and use their imagination to confront the apparent inevitability of whatever exists, with something radically better. The uniqueness of the Indian democracy is that different utopias have managed to find space for themselves in it. There are, of course, some radical discursive differences, translating into diverse manifestations, be it violence of the armed groups or collective urge for autonomy from the Indian state or an abandonment of parliamentary democracy. Yet there is a strong propensity among almost all to continue participating in the democratic institutions and covenants. The open process in India is there to strengthen these democratic processes, by creating an atmosphere of inclusion of, and respect for, divergences, making this space more attractive, even greater than its capacity to deliver. Even those who are critical of the journeys of the WSF have not been far away from its processes and events. We may suggest that in the realm of broader alliances and campaigns on peoples’ issues in the country, the desire to highlight what the movements have in common prevails over the desire to underscore what separates them.
The dominant issues in Indian democracy from a people’s perspective, such as caste, class, gender, liberalisation, displacement, war, religious fundamentalism, environment, labour and work, have been appearing prominently in different editions of the WSF in India. Issues and strategies, however, are only a part. Another world is possible when we also work on ways in which people approach organising and decision making. Experimentations with forms, where the practice of politics is more network-based, horizontal, participative, and democratic, has not been very successful in the Indian polity. Vicious confrontation, fragmentation, and individualism are the prevalent rules of the game. Amidst this, in spite of conflicts and contests, the politics of an open space opens up new possibilities for organising and sharing of common goods. A process involving more than 200 organisations in India, compared to eight in the Brazilian Organising Committee (the originator of the WSF) or a panel of all women speakers opening the ISF event on November 9 are milestones in processes of democratisation and change. However, the jury is still not out on this key issue and it is quite likely that the SF phenomenon in this country will continue to oscillate between different ways of organising. A contest-ridden process of continuous challenges to different hegemonic tendencies, but also one of cementing together, may, in fact, be the best possible way forward for SFs in India.
Against the global onslaught of capital, our experiences show that the SF phenomenon will continue to flourish. A large number of events, participants, local-regional SFs, more than one SF: all are possible. Because the SF is still such a child phenomenon, concrete examples of its actual accomplishments are difficult to cite. It is also problematic to attribute specific results to specific forums. If the SF is conceived as a space rather than a movement, then, by its very nature, success can be attributed not to it but to the various groups and movements within it. They are the ultimate takers and users of this space.
The writer is Director, Amnesty International-India, and closely associated with the World Social Forums