Forget Davos, It's Mumbai
 Forget Davos, It's Mumbai As usual, the Russian media paid no attention to the World Social Forum, choosing to concentrate instead on the World Economic Forum in Davos. The domestic press is absolutely convinced that the world belongs to the bosses, while civil society is only interesting as long as Western funds are willing to provide grants for its "development". But this year's World Social Forum is worthy of attention, if only because it took place for the first time in Asia, in the Indian city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay). The move has both symbolic and political meaning. It had to be shown that the forum of mass movements, unlike the forum of the elite, was not tied to one place. For Asian organizations the forum, formerly held in faraway Latin America, was inaccessible. You wouldn't send a mass delegation across the Atlantic. The forum's council, dominated by the Brazilians and French, was also criticized for its lack of democracy. The new Brazilian president, Inacio Lula da Silva, came to power with support from those movements that constitute the core of the forum. Today, many of da Silva's supporters are disappointed, as his economic policy is little different from his predecessors'. The forum faced a dilemma: either become a platform to criticize the new Brazilian government, or fall under its influence. In India, Latin American themes receded into the background, and Asia took center stage. If in Porto Alegre seminars and discussions were surrounded by carnival, this time around they were no more than a droplet in a popular celebration. The forum's nature changed radically. Working out the movement's common strategy was out of the question this time around. It was more like a parade of the world's left - a meeting point where people from different countries could find one another, exchange information and agree on joint actions. But Mumbai's poverty shocked even the most hardboiled activists of social movements. Slums right next to mansions and expensive hotels and people sleeping on sidewalks astonished not only Europeans but many delegates from Latin America and Africa. It is not mere poverty but an entire system where even a makeshift shelter is beyond some street-dwellers' reach. All the "good" places are already taken, and building even a pathetic shack takes money. "A slum in a good location will cost you $5,000 or $6,000", a salesclerk in a store in the city center told us. "Don't you know that real estate is getting more expensive?" Upon hearing that, a Moscow university professor said that with her income she probably wouldn't be able to afford an Indian slum - and would have to sleep on the streets, where even someone a Muscovite would feel nauseous from traffic pollution. At night in the hotel, the staff bed down on sheets in the lobby. This is the working aristocracy: They have a roof over their heads, a shower and a toilet. This nightmare greets you alongside upbeat propaganda. "India is Shining!" street billboards say. Everything is perfect, the local business press reports. Life is getting better, happier, local television commentators assure us. In the virtual reality stream, languid Eastern beauties holding mobile phones and washing powders glide by sterile green lawns. The main news is the purchase of the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov by the Indian fleet for $1.5 billion, soon to be followed by Akula submarines and strategic Tupolev bombers. People sleeping on the streets know nothing about the aircraft carrier. They can't even imagine the astronomic sum to be spent on it. The advertising hoardings have no meaning for them, only the trouble-free middle class. Forum delegates gathered under the pompous motto, "Another world is possible!" But one thing is clear: this world I find positively unacceptable. Copyright 2004 The Moscow Times |
