Vrijdag begint het eerste Nederlandse Sociaal Forum (NSF). Het Nederlandse voorzitterschap van - de Europese Unie heeft het liberalisen van wetten en diensten tot speerpunt bestempeld. Daarmee is voor de maatschappelijke organisaties in Nederland werk aan de winkel, volgens Susan George.... Read more
This article is inspired by the debate between Hilary Wainwright, John Holloway, Fausto Bertinotti and Daniel Bensaid at the seminar Strategies for Social Transformation, the third European Social Forum, London, 16 October 2004 I've been puzzling over John Holloway's book. I say puzzling because, on the one hand, there is a lot I agreed with in his critique of the traditional left - Leninist ... Read more
While the short history of the World Social Forum has been connected almost exclusively to Porto Alegre, the European Social Forum was conceived as a "nomadic" event: After Florence and Paris, it fell to London to play host. Being an annual gathering of left-wing activists and social movements, the European Social Forum inevitably depends on the political scene of the host country. On the... Read more
In five years, social forums have changed the political landscape - but passion is not enough, says Susan George... Read more
It’s time that the global social justice movement moved beyond its "another world is possible" mantra towards a political strategy. In the week of the 2004 European Social Forum, veteran French-American global justice campaigner Susan George tells Caspar Henderson of openDemocracy that Europeans need to focus, organise – and lead.... Read more
When countries from East and Central Europe joined the European Union, it was celebrated with honours. The official ideology of the East as well as of the West called it the end of European division. Actually, even a superficial knowledge of geography will demonstrate it is not true. Several European countries were left waiting their turn for entrance (in the best traditions of the Soviet bloc... Read more
Bookmarks are publishing this collective volume to coincide with the European Social Forum of 2004 in London and they are right to set us this subject. It's the only one worth discussing because `taking the movement forward' simultaneously means `pushing our adversaries backward' until they fall over the edge of the cliff. Since I've recently had the opportunity to give my views elsewhere' on... Read more
Chapter in Global Civil Society Yearbook 2004/5, The Centre for the Study of Global Governance, London School of Economics, and Center for Civil Society at University of California, Los Angeles, Sage Publications, October 2004. Reprinted with permission. When commentators with very different political views converge in their dismissal of civil society as of little value for democracy, it is w... Read more
The left in the UK certainly needs the European Social Forum. Whether the ESF will benefit from meeting in the UK is another matter. If the development of a process is about facing and overcoming challenges then the London ESF will definitely be character building for the ESF ! There are very good reasons for coming to London on Oct 14th - 17th. But it won't be a repeat of Florence. Let me giv... Read more
What does it mean to 'think the global locally'? Oscar Reyes examines this question in relation to debates on social forums, as part of a debate first published in the journal 'Soundings'.... Read more
