Although initiated as a counter-forum to Davos, the World Social Forum has evolved beyond it now, focusing on the root causes of problems facing humanity and developing real alternatives as solutions.
India's story starkly illustrates the disconnect between GDP and social progress, and the need for radically new economics developed from the bottom up.
Worsening climate change and the emergence of new economic powers is leading to a renewed scramble for resources, with negative consequences for many impoverished communities.
American traditional homegrown democracy at a global level: how about allowing the countries that already bear the heaviest burden to step up to the microphone?
This year's Madrid summit marks a key milestone in the ongoing development of the Enlazando Alternativas network for both highlighting EU complicity with human rights and environmental abuses and highlighting the real alternatives offered by social movements of integration and development that respect the rights of people, communities, and protect the environment.
Jennifer Franco, Satoko Kishimoto, Sylvia Kay, Timothé Feodoroff, Gloria Pracucci
20 October 2014
Primer
Water grabbing refers to situations where powerful actors take control of valuable water resources for their own benefit, depriving local communities whose livelihoods often depend on these resources and ecosystems.
