Between Stagnation and New Dynamics: Views on the European Social Forum
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Local/Global Encounters
Between Stagnation and New Dynamics: Views on the European Social Forum
PETER WAHL
ABSTRACT Peter Wahl argues that the European Social Forum (ESF) has a tremendous importance in the process of alternatives as the centre of regional and sub-regional efforts to build European integration from below. He points out several problems for the ESF that need to be overcome so that a new political culture of diversity can be used productively towards deep and sustained change. KEYWORDS diversity; neo-liberal; mobilization; network; consensus building; collective actor
Introduction It is trivial to state, that the movement for the globalization of peace, democratization, social justice and the preservation of our natural environment has an international character. It is international in the sense that it exists in all continents and in almost all countries. However, this international character does not mean that the movement would therefore automatically dispose of the capacity to intervene as a homogenous actor in concrete processes and decisions. Of course, there are promising steps into the right direction, such as the protest against symbols of neo-liberal globalization like the WTO-conferences, G7 summits, IMF/Worldbank meetings, the global action day against the war in Iraq in 2003 and of course, the Social Forums, both on global and continental level. These activities have, compared to the 1990s, contributed to a shift in the discoursive balance of power in favour of the emancipatory forces. The monopoly of the mainstream to interpret the world has been broken. The movement has created hope for millions of people, set free a tremendous political energy and ^ after the announcement of the end of history ^ opened up new horizons for change towards another world. However, success in substance has not been reached. There is no change in the orientation towards more market, privatization, corporate rule, militarization and social polarization. With the exception of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) in 1998, no neo-liberal project on international level could be stopped. Therefore, there is a growing feeling, that a new quality in the process of self-organization of the counterforces to neo-liberalism has to be reached. Otherwise, the movement will suffer from setbacks. The danger is that passivity and resignation will come back. Development (2005) 48(2), 96–99. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1100129
Wahl: The European Social Forum From Florence to London In Europe, these general trends have an additional dimension, which does not exist as such in other regions: with the development of the EU the continent is undergoing a process of intense economic and political integration that is unique in the world. The traditional national states in Europe are ^ as a process ^ more and more replaced by structures of an emerging supranational state. A common market has been established, a kind of European ruling class is emerging, the European Commission gains more and more executive power. The
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