Diversity and Cooperation

(Spanish below)

Francine Mestrum

Oded Grajew, one of the founders of the World Social Forum wrote an interesting note (see below) on the importance of our diversity.

I gladly react to it, in my own personal name.

Let me first of all say it is very positive to have these emerging discussions. These are the only thing that can help us to make progress.

Oded starts by saying the WSF is ‘un espacio’, ‘a space’. Yes, but we all know this is problematic. First of all semantically. I do not know Portuguese buy I do know that in English ‘a space’ is empty, while in French ‘un espace’ is full. So we have to know whether we want a full or an empty space.

Next to that, there is the other question: a space for what? For meeting? For action? For reflection? Or what? Many of our differences of opinion have to do with these first questions. We should not only discuss this in depth but also try to find a compromise. We should stop having the same discussions over and over again.

Oded states that the WSF works on a great number of areas, yes indeed, and that is, I think, precisely where the WSF can play a role. The global networks on housing, on debt, on peace… do not need the WSF to meet and work on their strategies and actions. The WSF is only useful if it can help these movements to meet each other, to actively promote encounters, exchange of knowledge, common strategies and actions. If the WSF does not want to play that role, it has no real usefulness.

The WSF shelters an enormous diversity of social actors, again, yes indeed. However, diversity as such is not a positive value, it can only become so if a mutual understanding is developed, if there is an exchange of information, if encounters are organised, if movements of different sectors learn of the insights of other sectors, if they learn what the different strands of thinking are and how to react on them. Otherwise, diversity is a brake on action, it then becomes a tool for fragmentation and depoliticization. All movements are different, as all individuals are different, but these differences only can be valued and valorised once put in contact to others and under the umbrella of the universality of humankind or the common ground for radical anti-capitalist action.

There is not a single path nor a single action for the WSF: again, I fully agree. The WSF can be a social and strategic value if we use it for that, if we see it as a learning process. The WSF has to promote convergence, promote the search for common platforms, otherwise it becomes a tool at the service of our dominant system.

The WSF was born as a reaction to the World Economic Forum in Davos. Those who follow these yearly events will know there is also a huge diversity, but also a common ground. All participants know in what direction they are going, the WSF organises conferences where guidelines are given, where a new global narrative is developed, always in the same direction. That is what the WSF also has to do. After a WSF event, movements should go home, not only with a stronger motivation, but also with new insights and a better awareness of what can be done together with other movements.

In his ‘Homo Deus’ Yuval Noah Harari describes human beings as being ‘superior’ by their capacity to cooperate in large groups. And not by coincidence, he recalls, this is what the powers that be will always try to hinder and make impossible. Individuals have no power, only cooperating groups can build power. This is the reason why we have to be very careful when we celebrate our diversity. Yes, it is our wealth, but it can only become our victory if we put the different pieces together, if we look for common ground, if we act on the basis of that common ground. And this does never happen spontaneously, it never falls out of the sky, it has to be worked at, not by a central power, but by an entity that shelters the diversity and looks for the common concerns, an entity that, together with the individual movements, can look for what they share.

Let us be honest with ourselves, dear friends, what did we achieve in the past twenty years? I would say we strengthened our consciousness of the deep crisis we are in, of the need to act and of the need to act together. Let us develop the tools to do just that. The coming 20 years may then be different. It is an urgent task.

Espanol:

Diversidad y cooperación

Francine Mestrum

Oded Grajew, uno de los fundadores del Foro Social Mundial, escribió una nota interesante (ver más abajo) sobre la importancia de nuestra diversidad.

Con mucho gusto reacciono a ella, en mi propio nombre personal.

En primer lugar, permítanme decir que es muy positivo tener estos debates emergentes. Estos son lo único que puede ayudarnos a avanzar.

Oded comienza diciendo que el FSM es “un espacio”, “a space”. Sí, pero todos sabemos que esto es problemático. En primer lugar semánticamente. No sé portugués, sí sé que en inglés “a space” está vacío, mientras que en francés “un espace” está lleno. Entonces tenemos que saber si queremos un espacio lleno o vacío.

Junto a eso, está la otra pregunta: ¿un espacio para qué? ¿Para la reunión? ¿Para acción? ¿Para reflexionar? ¿O que? Muchas de nuestras diferencias de opinión tienen que ver con estas primeras preguntas. No solo deberíamos discutir esto en profundidad, sino también tratar de encontrar un acuerdo. Deberíamos dejar de tener las mismas discusiones una y otra vez.

Oded afirma que el FSM trabaja en un gran número de áreas, sí, y es ahí, creo, donde el FSM puede jugar un papel. Las redes globales de vivienda, de deuda, de justicia climática, de paz… no necesitan el FSM para reunirse y trabajar en sus estrategias y acciones. El FSM sólo es útil si puede ayudar a estos movimientos a encontrarse, a promover activamente encuentros, intercambio de conocimientos, estrategias y acciones comunes. Si el FSM no quiere desempeñar ese papel, no tiene ninguna utilidad real.

El FSM alberga una enorme diversidad de actores sociales, de nuevo, sí. Sin embargo, la diversidad como tal no es un valor positivo, solo puede llegar a serlo si se desarrolla un entendimiento mutuo, si hay un intercambio de información, si se organizan encuentros, si los movimientos de diferentes sectores aprenden de las percepciones de otros sectores, si aprenden cuáles son las diferentes corrientes de pensamiento y cómo reaccionar ante ellas. De lo contrario, la diversidad es un freno a la acción, luego se convierte en una herramienta de fragmentación y despolitización. Todos los movimientos son diferentes, como todos los individuos son diferentes, pero estas diferencias solo pueden ser valoradas una vez puestas en contacto con otras y bajo el paraguas de la universalidad de la humanidad o el terreno común de movimientos radicales anticapitalistas.

No hay un solo camino ni una sola acción para el FSM: nuevamente, estoy totalmente de acuerdo. El FSM puede ser un valor social y estratégico si lo usamos para eso, si lo vemos como un proceso de aprendizaje. El FSM tiene que promover la convergencia, promover la búsqueda de plataformas comunes, de lo contrario se convierte en una herramienta al servicio del sistema dominante.

El FSM nació como reacción al Foro Económico Mundial en Davos. Quienes sigan estos eventos anuales sabrán que también hay una gran diversidad, pero también un terreno común. Todos los participantes saben en qué dirección van, el FSM organiza conferencias donde se dan pautas, donde se desarrolla una nueva narrativa global, siempre en la misma dirección. Eso es lo que también tiene que hacer el FSM. Después de un evento del FSM, los movimientos deberían irse a casa, no solo con una motivación más fuerte, sino también con nuevos conocimientos y una mejor conciencia de lo que se puede hacer junto con otros movimientos.

En su “Homo Deus”, Yuval Noah Harari describe a los seres humanos como “superiores” por su capacidad para cooperar en grandes grupos. Y no por casualidad, recuerda, esto es lo que los poderes fácticos siempre intentarán obstaculizar y hacer imposible. Los individuos no tienen poder, solo los grupos que cooperan pueden construir poder. Ésta es la razón por la que debemos tener mucho cuidado cuando celebramos nuestra diversidad. Sí, es nuestra riqueza, pero solo puede convertirse en nuestra victoria si juntamos las diferentes piezas, si buscamos un terreno común, si actuamos sobre la base de ese terreno común. Y esto nunca ocurre de manera espontánea, nunca cae del cielo, tiene que ser trabajado, no por un poder central, sino por una entidad que cobija la diversidad y busca las inquietudes comunes, una entidad que junto a la movimientos individuales, pueden buscar lo que comparten.

Seamos honestos con nosotros mismos, queridos amigos, ¿qué logramos en los últimos veinte años? Yo diría que fortalecimos nuestra conciencia de la profunda crisis en la que nos encontramos, de la necesidad de actuar y de la necesidad de actuar juntos. Desarrollemos las herramientas para hacer precisamente eso. Entonces, los próximos 20 años pueden ser diferentes. Es una tarea urgente.

Message of Oded Grajew:

A RIQUEZA DO FÓRUM SOCIAL MUNDIAL

Oded Grajew

(English below)

A luta que nos une no FSM não é uma luta simples. O desafio por um outro mundo possível é bastante complexo. Não queremos apenas mudar um ou outro aspecto do atual modelo. Queremos mudar TODO O SISTEMA. Sabemos, por experiência própria, que avanços pontuais correm risco de retrocessos quando o sistema permanece o mesmo.

Sistema que tem ramificações na economia, na política, na cultura, na educação, na saúde, na comunicação, na ciência, na tecnologia, no meio ambiente, no trabalho, nas governanças (locais, nacionais, regionais e global), nas políticas de segurança, na ordem jurídica, nas políticas de habitação e urbanas, na promoção dos direitos, no combate ao racismo, a homofobia e ao patriarcado, nas questões de gênero e raça etc. É uma luta de resistência e de transformação EM INÚMERAS ÁREAS.

A riqueza e o potencial do FSM é de ser um espaço e um processo que abriga uma enorme diversidade de atores e organizações sociais que militam em diversas áreas e podem estabelecer parcerias e sinergias com outros das mesmas áreas e áreas complementares. É esta diversidade que é capaz de enfrentar os desafios de todo um sistema. É esta diversidade que aglutina e atrai uma grande variedade de militantes e organizações onde todas e todos são respeitadas e valorizadas, onde ninguém é mais importante que o outro, onde não há uma hierarquia de valor entre as diversas causas e áreas de atuação. Onde militantes e organizações são respeitadas e valorizadas como os protagonistas das mudanças e das suas escolhas.

Para transformar um sistema multifacetado infelizmente (seria muito mais fácil) não há um só caminho nem uma única ação, mas a necessidade de uma diversidade de ações atuando em várias áreas, em várias localidades e em espaços de encontros e articulações geridas pelas lideranças e organizações. Esta é a oportunidade e a riqueza que o espaço e o processo FSM oferece. O CI teria a preciosa missão de facilitar este processo. Esta riqueza merece ser valorizada como valor social e estratégico.

Oded Grajew

THE WEALTH OF THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM

The struggle that unites us in the WSF is not a simple struggle. The challenge for another possible world is quite complex. We don’t want to just change one or the other aspect of the current model. We want to change ALL THE SYSTEM. We know from our own experience that timely advances run the risk of setbacks when the system remains the even.

A system that has ramifications in the economy, politics, culture, education, health, communication, science, technology, environment, work, local, national, regional and global governance, security policies, legal order, housing and urban policies, the promotion of rights, the fight against racism, homophobia and patriarchy, issues of gender and race, etc. etc.

It is a struggle of resistance and transformation IN NUMBER AREAS.

The richness and potential of the WSF is that it is a space and a process that shelters an enormous diversity of social actors and organizations that militate in diverse areas and can establish partnerships and synergies with others in the same areas and complementary areas. It is this diversity that is capable of facing the challenges of an entire system. It is this diversity that brings together and attracts a wide variety of militants and organizations where all are respected and valued, where no one is more important than the other, where there is no hierarchy of value among the various causes and areas of action. Where militants and organizations are respected and valued as the protagonists of change and their choices.

To transform a multifaceted system unfortunately (it would be much easier) there is neither a single path nor a single action, but the need for a diversity of actions acting in various areas, in various localities and in spaces for meetings and articulations managed by leaders and organizations. This is the opportunity and the richness that the WSF space and process offers. The IC would have the precious mission of facilitating this process. This wealth deserves to be valued as a social and strategic value.

Oded Grajew

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