January 31, 2005; Porte Alegre: Today is the final day of the World Social Forum (WSF). There are no more small-group events, today is more of a celebration and an attempt to bring it all together.

After each session, in each of the eleven thematic areas, a Forum organizer was ready to record proposals from event organizers and participants. Today, the ‘Mural of Proposals’ was presented in a multi lingual panel that resembled a political rally more than an administrative announcement. It is meant to be a summary of the more than 4,000 events in 16 languages held over the past 4 days.

The mural of proposals project is an intelligent effort to focus the smaller group events, and large panel discussions on possible actions and on using the World Social Forum as a constructive organizing tool. This final ‘call to (dis)arms’ allows a mammoth and diverse event such as this to have a greater impact.

As the proposals show, it may be unified in its support from participants but is by no means a simple, or concise voice. Not that that can be expected from a large grassroots event with over 100,000 participants.

Vague language is easy to unite behind, but the speakers often went beyond calling for support to ‘struggles of the oppressed’ and ‘ending globalization’, though there was plenty of that. As examples they cited different causes to be aware of and support using varying degrees of specificity. They called for support of the plight of women, the indigenous people of Latin America, Dalits of India, Roma of Europe and others.

Other proposals called for an end to despicable practices like slavery and child abuse and trafficking. The list went on, with each new speaker from a new thematic group or sub group speaking for 2-10 minutes, rallying the crowd behind their specific cause followed by another person repeating the same speech in translation; these proposals often contained broader goals, and were usually on behalf of causes such as fighting against privatization, keeping water a public good, ending the war in Iraq, ‘stopping’ the IMF.

Throughout the speeches, many speakers made a broad call for an end to neo-liberal globalization and in the same breath called for human dignity, and an end to war, racism and oppression. With a crowd as supportive as the participants of the WSF, it wasn’t necessary to stop and explain how these issues are linked and how success in one area helps the others.

It was generally accepted that globalization was in part responsible for the numerous struggles in need of solidarity and support. The WSF was not the place to question that claim or to prove it; it is the place to motivate yourself to act on it.

Understanding the power of solidarity is key to understanding the force that is the World Social Forum, and why it fuels the engines of the NGOs and individuals that attend. As an American, I must say the most surprising consensus I have encountered here is the appreciation of solidarity. This is not a word used in English very often, and certainly not a common emotion for middle class Americans.

However, for the Brazilian landless poor fighting for rights to own the land they live and work on, for the Dalits of India trying to end discrimination, or for Japanese in Okinawa trying to stop the construction of an American airbase, it helps them to know that a diverse, international group supports them, and that others are working just as hard against problems that are unlikely to be solved during my lifetime.

That support and unity can make the quest more tolerable, and even enjoyable by bestowing righteousness on the causes. I do not mean that pejoratively, but a sense of right is necessary to keep a crusader motivated to work against unlikely odds. And a crowd of 100,000 saying ‘yes, we agree with you and support your cause’ can empower an activist’s sense of being right.

World Social Forum, Day 3. Mural of Proposals from the 2005 World Social Forum.

During the presentation of proposals, the two issues that received the loudest cheers by far were one regarding Palestine to both support their right of return to their homeland and also an arms embargo against Israel, and a proposal calling for an end to the embargo against Cuba.

The room roared and flags waved as soon as the words “support Palestine” were uttered. And admittedly, the room may have been disproportionately stacked with socialists because a socialist march was scheduled to start nearby just after the meeting. But the strength of their cheers was also likely because these groups are perceived as needing more support, as facing a more powerful opposition to their cause, and thus are in need of greater solidarity.

Groups as diverse as migrant workers, women’s groups, the urban poor, indigenous people and anti-war groups, stood on stage together as well as in the crowd, cheering each other in solidarity and in opposition to ‘neo-liberal globalization’. This showed the unifying power of struggle and also of vague labels that serve as blanket symbols for the evils of the world.

Regarding specific problems, many groups did recommend specific proposals for certain problems: for example, holding a demonstration against the war in Iraq on March 19, or rallying to prevent the construction of an airbase in Okinawa.

Others promoted future endeavors by publicizing dates for follow-up activities, such as the International Day of Peasant Struggle on April 7, International Student Day on November 17th with a forum in Venezuela, the International Festival of Youth on November 17th, and many others on issues such as water rights in Chile, women’s rights, health of children and mothers and more.
The unifying theme of the closing ceremony and the Forum overall is belief that something has gone wrong with the world and that it is possible to fix it. Forum participants may focus on the sad and negative concerns they are struggling against, but they really do believe they can.

The theme of the Forum after all is ‘Another World is Possible’.