The World social forum process is a new socio-political process. It provides civil society
organisations with an open space for intercommunication regulated by Charter of Principles, where all kind of alliances for action can be defined between participants.
This contribution is discussing the means that are necessary to support quantitative expansion without loosing the values and practices that are specific to wsfprocess: open space, inclusiveness, horizontality, accountability of who is speaking in the name of who, etc. It advocates that it is now time to start a massive psychological and economical investment in the Internet as a tool able to allow expansion of the WSF process, while retaining practices and values. It is time that the various expressions of the WSF start using the internet in a more strategical and comprehensive way, both to enhance the internal debate and to connect people and movements worldwide to organise concrete actions together.
1 - An unprecedented expansion challenge in wsfprocess and a fast moving internet panorama
The worldwide dimension of WSF process was made possible with the expansion of the Internet, starting with mailing lists practice. Currently the forum process is relying on a “mesh” of mailing lists binding around 100.000 people, 10.000 organisations with a “core” revolving around the IC and its commissions.
Those participants have set themselves the unprecedented task to enlarge wsf “open space” concept and practices to include millions of people and tens of thousands of organisations. 7 years after the start of the social forum process, Internet has expanded a great deal. Big interactive “social networking sites” in the world gather already millions of people, usually the richer and most educated ones in the richer countries. Those sites generally do not include the notion of “organisation” or movements in their structure, just individuals and “interest groups”. The web 2.0 can be used to strenghten the network of existing social forums and bring new people in it. Many millions of people meet daily in instant chats free of charge regardless of distance. Cybercafes are accessible mostly everywhere, always more also in the poorer countries, but they charge relatively high for use. Calling across the world using internet for voice (Voip) is now very cheap in many countries.
2 - Internet a well suited support for intercommunication in wsf process “open space”
It has been generally assessed that “Intercommunication” and “translation” (in the larger cultural meaning) between organisation and cultures during wsf events and during preparation of those in the hosting countries, is the main perceived outcome of world social event encounters.
This intercommunication can happen face to face in an event or through the internet in the worldwide process. In order to support expansion of the “common open space”, it is necessary to keep mailing lists and expand to social networks and collaborative sites that allow decentralized communication in a common space.
Chico Whitaker tells in annex 11 of his book «Challenge of World social forum» about an initiative - «International days towards a society overcoming dominations» - , which he participated in in the 70’s , and about how this project allowed to develop the concept and start to practice «intercommunication» . «The project transformed itself into a concrete liberation practice from a specific domination – the one that seeks to avoid the development of free and direct links between dominated people, the unique way through which the fundamental weapon of dominators – i.e. the division of dominated - can be
neutralized». [Whitaker]
Indeed, for many people are located in key “nodes” of Wsf related networks, verbs like “mediate “, “synthesize”, “select”, as well as “represent”, are permanent sollicitations due to heavy agenda and deadlines, while verbs like “ facilitate”, “empower”, “peer training”, “give space”, “stimulate”, are seen often as less rewarding and time consuming activities
The Internet, under the condition to have physical access to it and be trained to use it, is a tool that allows this “direct and horizontal” intercommunication between organised people at an unprecedented scale. It has been under-used by social movements and in particular in the social forums, by just adopting some basic tools – and not using them strategically at their most democratic and empowering potential.
Any user registered in a collaborative site is having an equal access to others, and an accountable access , provided he/she is included in the space that can be an open mailing list or a collaborative interactive site, such as wsf2008.net and wsfprocess.net. Moreover, the accountability in decision making is equivalent or can be even greater than in a face to
face situation (see written chat that keep a verbatim record of the proceedings, and of who was there).
3 - Locally organized and funded “wsf internet training “ programs as a strategic decentralized investment in the wsf process
“Training to wsf internet” can be a quite meaningful and inclusive face to face activity, socially and politically. Imagine a cybercafé in a popular suburb of a city of the Global South, where 2/3 “digitally included” activists, benefiting from a voucher given by their organisation to pay for the internet connection, train 10 to 20 people, on a weekend day, showing them the worldwide diversity and richness of they can find surfing on wsf2008.net, wsfprocess.net and other collaborative sites where they can find and meet new people and organisations working on similar issues and with a common underlying vision. At the end of such a session those participants can be registered in mailing lists and collaborative site, know how to use them to make themselves and their organisation visible and how to use the internet for their information and initiatives.
The question of funding “training to wsf internet” internet access or facilitating internet access to more and more people becomes then a strategic question to be debated. It is relevant to discuss inside an organisation whether it is better to fund one plane ticket 1000 USD for one person to participate in one meeting or to fund 400hours of cybercafé access for 2,5USD an hour, train 40 people, through 2 week end session and ask for the meeting to be transformed in an on line chat where 5 local people will participate.
Of course face to face meetings are always important for having complete communication with people, and have to be mixed with “internet inclusion” in the process. Nevertheless, use of limited resources for having either one people travelling or for having twenty time more people getting access to internet common space has to be carefully assessed in the
organisation having access to funding.
It make sense to consider as a strategic activity the stimulation and facilitation of “programs” inside wsf related networks that would funding “minimally subsidized wsf internet training sessions” – the result of those sessions can be readily evaluated by the number of people registered in wsf sites and the quality of their activity in those sites.
Such Training to wsf internet ”programs can help avoid a “compassionate approach towards internet and digital divide” where one stresses that only a happy few, of which I am part, can access this tool.
4 - GDA WSF2008 - “coming out” of the wsf related networks
Thanks to seven World Social Forum mobilization processes, accumulating face to face relationships, there is a world wide latent network of active people understanding what Wsf process is about, and ready to mobilize locally by themselves knowing they are contributing to accumulate strength globally.
The organisation of Global days of action WSF2008 has been a first (*) occasion to «activate» this latent network. In this «world wide open space», around 1000 actions have been initiated. It shows that the «common open space» for a decentralized international mobilization is mature.
(*) leaving as a specific case the Feb. 15 2003 peace demonstration, prompted by upcoming war perspective
People “acted” locally and organised globally and for some of them it was the first time they could hear about it and feel, even if as a background, the rest of the participants presence. The intercommunication aspect has started on this occasion – through reporting and loose connections with other actions.
5 - GDA WSf2008 will last longer on-line than the duration of local action on January 26th
After the preparation phase culminating in the event moment, comes the reporting phase and then, building on top of the reports, an extended intercommunication phase.
Despite the fact the last phase had not been specifically planned – it is interesting to set up locally a density of actors that can show how internet intercommunication around a site can occur.
Eg. The Action site wsf2008.net can be used to present actions, exchange and build mobilisation, report on the activities, and exchange messages of mutual support. Contacts can be taken directly from the site. Tools of proximity communication like live online chat rooms (used for working groups in GDA WSF2008) and collective video chat sessions (more than 50 collective video chats took place) are very useful for a direct, live exchange – as workshops and meetings.
6 - Practical internet agenda on intercommunication the in Communication Commission
Up to 2007, IC Communication commission focused on mainstream and alternative media.
Of course this focus remains very important, keeping ongoing effort on media and radios (very important ), being clear that the vividness of the local process participation on the Internet will boost the local alternative media actors. That (including radios, which have more and more equivalent their webradio sites) rely a lot on the Internet.
In 2007, the working plan of of the IC Communication commission has been evolving and the version approved in Berlin IC includes now also:
– internal communication
– intercommunication through design and promotion/support of use of «action site and process sites»
– promotion of use of «video chats» and “participants networks”
Some additional elements for the working plan can be:
– Finding a balance in priorities and funding between big events and GDAs (which can be mixed together, for example have a GDA “around” Belem2009)
– Funding and advocating programs for Internet inclusion in the “wsf process on line”, which will be effective ways of expansion by themselves as well as support to the WSF as a whole.
This implies:
– Enlarging the support team of wsf related sites or wsf compatible sites with committed people (by having regular meetings, and some facilitators/staff support)
– Fostering expansion of collective video chats - teleworkshops –which convey emotion of encounter (see relevant group) and a distance/proximity meeting.
– Working on tools to make them adapted to the needs and effective in sustaining wsf process practices (inclusiveness , horizontality, accountability, etc…)
– Fostering the developent of free software based chats and social networking tools, in order not to depend exclusively on commercial services, even if offered “free of cost”.
– Finding a funding scheme for permanent hosting capacity for those tools (and not change from one event to the next), including centralized funding and voluntary contribution of organizations and participants (donate on line, have a bank account in an ethical – cooperative bank).
All these are some suggestions in the direction of a more coherent and consistent use of the Internet for the World Social Forum process. They are not in substitution of other tools, but want to offer the possibility for many more people to participate and to help movements to improve the way they work together... in a cost effective way, which is already not only possible, but available.
Annex - Practising intercommunication in wsf process open spaces- current possibilities
Intercommunication is at the core of wsf process and can be done remotely with three Internet tools provided.
Instant messaging - video chat: the remote on line face to face experience
1 - video chat - around 50 interconnexion by video chat occurred and some are reported in http://www.wsf2008.net/eng/node/6264
– the chat room there and mail intercommunication wsf2008.net are ongoing to help you discover this way of remote communication between groups
– Chat rooms and video chats intercommunication in working groups and workshops
– Strategic agenda on intercommunication
Action site –remote on line intercommunication between actions
GDA has been the occasion to start an “action-oriented” site focused on action and not stressing the dialogue between organisation. The reporting phase in this site is an occasion to stimulate and empower people into intercommunicating - by presenting reporting elements and commenting elements presented by others. Many improvements can and should be done.
2 - commenting each other’s actions contents in wsf2008.net or each other’s documents in wsfprocess.net
– browsing the site, finding contents that interest you, you are invited to click on “add comment” at the bottom of each document
– expression of interest /solidarity towards other actions , or extending an invitation to establish contacts are also part of GDA action
This inter-commenting can be individual (in wsf2008.net) or collective (in wsfprocess.net you send a message to an organisation and all people inside this organisation receive it , while you can copy your own organisation with it).
Process site(s) – remote on line intercommunication between organizations
Since Nairobi 2007, a wsfprocess site exists and can be used as a “live directory”. It provides each organisation (more than 1500 registered) or group of organisation a specific space which can be used as a link towards the specific websites and a hub for communication with other organisation present in this site – the keywords are person – organisation – group of organisations – activity – proposals
World social forum is introducing here a collective element which is the «organisation» , whereas mainstream social sites are mainly interested in individuals and do not provide collective space other than ad hoc grouping directly on Internet. So you never can tell if a person comes in a group in personal capacity or as affiliated to an organisation.
Process site like wsfprocess.net - to give more formal working groups a place to edit and exchange with a mailing list, with horizontal management of groups by cooptation, and collective editing, and “remain at one click form their global neighbours”.
3 - forming groups of organised people on wsfprocess.net
wsf2008.net is a place to make open contacts and then www. wsfprocess.net site is available to establish “groups” between people affiliated to various organisations and develop those contacts in a more structured way with a mailing list and editing space and a clear participant list wsf social networking - individual interlinking as a sustain and or preliminary to common activities inside wsf related networks (WIP to be worked upon)