Social Forums

Yearbook

    "Cosmopolitan futures. Global activism for a just world."
  • For an institution which has recently moved to its second decade of existence, the time is ripe to undergo a thorough discussion of its future direction. The World Social Forum (WSF) - the great gathering of global justice activists, an inspiration for innumerable people worldwide, even hailed as “the world parliament in exile” in its early days - is in such a point.
    European Social Forums (ESF)
  • The ESF process is very important for Transform! because our network was formed during our participation in earlier ESF forums. And Transform! is in turn an important actor of the Forum.  In this first issue of our magazine Transform! we would like to contribute a few thoughts for debate in the...
    The US and the European Social Forum: Strategic Challenges for the WSF
  • No World Social Forum will be held in 2010. Instead, about 40 events are taking place all over the world in order to broaden the alterglobalist movement, to reflect on the crisis – whether it is called economic and social or “civilisational” – and in order to prepare for the WSF in February 2011 in...
    Car Conversion: Towards an Eco-Socialist "Economy of Reproduction"
  • The car industry is a good example of the current many-sided crisis, or, better, its crystallisation point: for decades the industry has been characterised by enormous over-capacity – nevertheless western car manufacturers want to double production. At the same time, new and strong competitors are...
    Ten Years Later: A Short Introduction
  • The subject of this dossier of Transform! is the alter-globalisation movement. This movement can be considered one of the major political innovations of the late the 20th century. It is within it that the new forms of capitalist exploitation and economic imperialism through liberal globalisation...
    New Strategic Orientations for the WSF?*
  • For the 10th anniversary of the World Social Forum (WSF), two encounters were organised in Brazil: the first at Porto Alegre, from January 25 to 29 and the other at Salvado de Bahia, from January 29 to 31. They took place in the context of a year of action including dozens of events connected with...
    The Social Forums and the Left in Latin America
  • The question I had been asked by the editors of this publication - “What has been the contribution of the Social Forums to the experiences of the left in Latin America?”- cannot be answered that easily. In order to learn lessons for the political struggle it is not at all sufficient to describe its...
    The Crisis and the Future of the ESF
  • The ESF has experienced many problems over the years, and we should be honest enough to admit that it has been on a downward course ever since the first and most successful one was organised in Florence in 2002. The ESF is therefore in a crisis, and we need to analyse and discuss its current...

Focus

Blog

    4th Russian Social Forum 2022
  • The 4th Russian Social Forum took place from 1 to 4 May during the days of the World Social Forum in Mexico City and was closely linked to it — both thematically and in terms of the circle of participants.
    Let’s Try Again!
  • This year we commemorate the twentieth anniversary of two crucial landmarks of the old, and now non-existent, anti-globalisation or alternative globalisation movement, which both took place in 2001: the first World Social Forum in Porto Alegre (Brazil) in January, and the “battle of Genoa” in July.
    Genoa. 20 Years After.
  • On 20 July 2001, 23-year-old protester Carlo Giuliani was shot dead by a policeman in the course of the demonstrations against the G8 Summit in Genoa. This summit went down in history for the enormous scale of police brutality. Greek MP Yiannis Bournous, who took part in the protests, reflects on their impact on left parties all across Europe.
    Reinventing the World Social Forum?
  • The World Social Forum (WSF) met for the first time in Porto Alegre in 2001. This was an event of extraordinary importance. It signaled an alternative form of globalization to the globalization being promoted by global capitalism, at a time when capitalism was increasingly assuming it is most exclusive and antisocial version: neoliberalism.
    Peoples, united, never shall be defeated!
  • The Assembly of Social Movements of the WSF 2015, Tunisia is where we come together in all our diversity, in order to forge a collective agenda to fight capitalism, imperialism, patriarchy, racism and all forms of discrimination and oppression.
    First Central and Eastern European Social and Environmental Forum
  • From 2 to 5 May 2013 the first Central and Eastern European Social and Environmental Forum (CEESF) took place in Vienna, Austria. About 150 participants from 12 European countries discussed along the title “Revolts in the Periphery?” both the economic and political situation of central and eastern European countries during the current financial crisis.
    World Social Forum in Tunis
  • As we had expected, the WSF in Tunis was a great moment of solidarity with the people of Tunisia, two years after the Tunisian uprising against Ben Ali. It was also a great time to strengthen the democratic camp in the Arabian world.
    Declaration of the Social Movements Assembly of the WSF
  • We publish here the declaration of the Social Movements Assembly of the recent World Social Forum in Tunisia. "We are gathered here to affirm the fundamental contribution of peoples of Maghreb-Mashrek (from North Africa to the Middle East), in the construction of human civilization. We affirm that decolonization for oppressed peoples remains for us, the social movements of the world, a challenge of the greatest importance.
    For a European Spring! Our Democracy against their Austerity!
  • “For a European Spring” is a call for actions, strikes and demonstrations all over Europe on 13 March, and for a pan-European demonstration and creative actions in the city of Brussels on 14 March. It is targeted at the EU Spring Summit, where leaders from across the continent will assemble on 14 and 15 to strengthen the European Council's response to the crisis.
    Firenze 10+10
  • Initiated and organised by social movements, ten years after the first European Social Forum in Florence, the Firenze 10+10 assembly took place. Along the five thematic axes: Democracy / Finance, debt, austerity / Labour and social rights / Commons and public services / Europe in the Mediterranean...
    Firenze 10+10: Joining Forces for Another Europe
  • In November, European social movements will meet in Florence to plan continent-wide responses to austerity and the European crisis of democracy. Tommaso Fattori calls for us to make ‘Firenze 10+10’ a priority
    Florence 10+10: Europe and Democracy
  • In the last two years the ruling classes – economic and political – have transformed the EU in order to respond to the financial, economic, and social crisis. The neoliberal response has been the same throughout the EU: fiscal consolidation, austerity measures, the so-called structural reforms to...
    ESF: After the Meeting in Paris
  • Dear friends, Just below a message from the french committee: The CIFS (French initiative committee on social forums) met on the 15th of November to assess the european assembly held on October, 23-24 in Paris and to consider the follow-up steps that should be taken. During the European assembly,...
    ESF Istanbul 2010: Analysis and Reports
  • transform!europe participated in the 6th European Social Forum held in Istanbul, July 2010.  The seminars co- organised by transform!europe were: Which political answer to the crisis ?Analysis of the car industry crisis: what kind of social and ecological reconversion do we need?What can be a...
    On the Move to the Next World Social Forum
  • From May 5th to 9th, the International Council of the World Social Forum came together in Mexico City in a meeting to prepare the next edition of the World Social Forum in February next year in Dakar, Senegal. At the beginning of the meeting this year’s initiatives were evaluated. A remarkable list...
    Axes for European Social Forum defined in Diyarbakir and Paris
  • 13 axes of discussion were defined for the European Social Forum - 2010 that will be held in Istanbul (1 to 4 of July), after the meeting of a working group last saturday (November, 21), in Paris, and a previous discussion in the European Preparatory Assembly (EPA) in Diyarbakir (September, 25 and...
    Mesopotamia Social Forum (MSF) in Diyarbakir
  • Thousands of activists from more than 50 countries participated in the Mesopotamia Social Forum, in Diyarbakir, (southeast Turkey). The struggles against war and neo-liberal policies, the fight for the rights of women, the environmental problems and the youth movement wew the important topics in...
    European Social Forum on its way to Istanbul
  • The EPA was held in Vienna from 19 to 21 June. More than 70 organizations from Turkey are involved in the organization of the next European Social Forum (ESF), to be held in Istanbul, in June 2010. This open and dynamic process was presented and discussed in the last European Preparatory Assembly...
    Diary of the World Social Forum 2009 in Belém do Pará
  • Before the WSF The World Social Forum starts this Tuesday, in Belém do Pará, close to the Amazon Rain Forest. More than one hundred thousand participants are expected, to attend more than two thousand panels and discussion seminars, as well as over a thousand journalists from all over the world. ...
    WSF: Resolution and a Plan of Action
  • "Other News" is a personal initiative seeking to provide information that should be in the media but is not, because of commercial criteria. It welcomes contributions from everybody. Work areas include information on global issues, north-south relations, governance of globalization. The "Other News"...
    transform! europe at ESF 2008 in Malmö
  • transform!europe is a European network which consists of research and educational institutions and magazines in 13 European countries. Since its foundation transform!europe has participated in all European Social Forums. In Malmö, the network and its members will take part in more than 30 seminars...

Publication

Calendar

    20 Years After the European Social Forum - Where is Europe Going?
  • Twenty years after the first European Social Forum, in November 2022 Florence wants to be a further opportunity, along with others taking place in Europe, to foster the convergence of European social actors, organisations and social movements, after a long period of geographical and thematic fragmentation and at a tragic time.
    Central and Eastern European Social and Environmental Forum (CESEF)
  • The CESEF is considered as a part of the WSF-process. Its importance lies in the fact that the common problems of the CEE region which have been marginalized up to now in the European Social Forum will be highlighted. The consequences of the semi-peripheral (or peripheral) situation of CEE will be analyzed and a joint action programme hammered as the main outcome.

Webinars

    Genoa 2021 – The Struggle for Another World Continues
  • On the occasion of the anniversary of the 2001 Genoa protests against the G8 Summit, this series of events focuses on the political significance of the European Social Forums and the paths and prospects for alternative global movements. Watch the full recordings.