World Social Forum proposes alternative to Davos

Walden Bello

January 2008

Walden Bello speaks to Sen Lam about the World Social Forum events of 2008

As the world's movers and shakers head for Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, a very different kind of forum is taking place.

Walden Bello speaks to Sen Lam about the World Social Forum events of 2008

As the world's movers and shakers head for Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, a very different kind of forum is taking place. The World Social Forum consists of events in more than 25 countries and bills itself as a counterpoint to Davos.

Dr Walden Bello, professor of sociology at the University of the Philippines and executive director of the advocacy group, Focus on the Global South.

Presenter - Sen Lam

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Walden Bello

Senior analyst at Philippine think-tank Focus on the Global South, TNI fellow and Akbayan representative in the Filipino Congress.

Author of more than 14 books, Bello was awarded the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize) in 2003 for "... outstanding efforts in educating civil society about the effects of corporate globalisation, and how alternatives to it can be implemented." Bello has been described by the Economist as the man “who popularised a new term: deglobalisation.”

Bello predicted the financial crisis several years prior to the current meltdown and is a globally respected figure within the alternative globalisation movement. Canadian author Naomi Klein called him the "world's leading no-nonsense revolutionary."