diy world

As the suits gather in Switzerland, and the anti-suits in Brazil, openDemocracy lifts the lid on what those involved are really thinking and saying. Ezequiel Adamovsky and Susan George, anti-capitalism activists of different generations, talk about the agenda for Porto Alegre, while a veteran green activist and business advisor John Elkington reflects on whether there is any point to Davos. OpenDemocracy provides ongoing coverage from Porto Alegre.
Tuesday 5th April

How to be radical? An interview with Todd Gitlin and George Monbiot

George Monbiot and Todd Gitlin, 5 April 2011
What kind of radicalism can help turn protest against injustice into a coherent movement for a progressive global politics? Here, leading voices of different generations – Todd Gitlin (‘Letters to a Young Activist’) and George Monbiot (‘The Age of Consent’) – discuss activism, nationalism, violence, and world government in an interview with Anthony Barnett and Caspar Henderson of openDemocracy.

(This article was first published on 5 September 2003)

Monday 4th October

Taking the right path? The Centre for Alternative Technology and the politics of radical ecology

Charlie Hill, 4 October 2010
Reflecting on a recent visit to the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) and his life as an eco-activist, Charlie Hill argues that radical ecology needs to reach out to a new audience.
Friday 30th January

World Social Forum 2009: a generation’s challenge

Geoffrey Pleyers, 30 January 2009
The "alter-globalisation" movement seeks a politics to cope with the failures of success
Monday 26th June

Strip-mining communities

David Boyle, 26 June 2006
The useful, life-giving and non-remunerative work people do for each other is not included in governments' calculation of economic value. It should be, says David Boyle.
Thursday 26th January

Lula's flame still burns

Arthur Ituassu, 26 January 2006
The charismatic Chávez, the dynamic Morales, even the mercurial Kirchner are winning the headlines in Latin America – but there is life in Lula yet, says Arthur Ituassu.
Wednesday 25th January

The WSF in search of itself

Solana Larsen, 25 January 2006
The World Social Forum pioneered new forms of global activism and democracy. Now it is being pressed to take the shape of an older politics, reports Solana Larsen in Caracas. 
Tuesday 24th January

Lula and the WSF - the end of the affair

Carlos Tautz, 24 January 2006
The Brazilian president's absence from the World Social Forum in Venezuela reveals shifting affiliations in Latin America, says Carlos Tautz. Will Hugo Chávez, Néstor Kirchner or Evo Morales replace Lula as the movement's new political icon? 
Thursday 3rd February

Fred Halliday, come down from your mountain!

Peter Waterman, 3 February 2005
Fred Halliday’s verbal assault on activists at the World Social Forum rouses Peter Waterman to a passionate defence of the “global justice and solidarity movement”.

Portraits from the World Social Forum

Vince Medeiros, Solana Larsen, and Caspar Henderson, 3 February 2005
Brazilian landless workers, Indian child labour campaigners, Canadian media activists all carried their hopes to the fifth World Social Forum. openDemocracy’s Porto Alegre team – Caspar Henderson, Solana Larsen, Vince Medeiros – talked to them.
Thursday 20th January

Beyond the World Social Forum: the need for new institutions

Ezequiel Adamovsky, 20 January 2005
As campaigners from around the world prepare for the fifth World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Ezequiel Adamovsky argues that the “movement of movements” has reached a crossroads. It needs a new political focus: inventing institutions that embody not hierarchies of power but cooperation among equals.
Wednesday 19th January

Lost in space: the World Social Forum and the media

Vince Medeiros, 19 January 2005
As 150,000 participants from around the world prepare for the fifth World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil from 26-31 January 2005, Vince Medeiros critically examines western media coverage of this global event.
Wednesday 3rd November

Delhi Calling

Angela Saini, 3 November 2004
European Social Forum activists and trade unionists condemn the outsourcing of call-centre jobs to India as one of globalisation’s injustices. But what do their Indian employees think? Angela Saini reports.
Tuesday 26th October

Islam and politics don't mix: Massoud Romdhani interviewed

Massoud Romdhani, 26 October 2004
The European Social Forum in London floundered over the issue of Islam’s relationship with the west, says Tunisian human rights activist Massoud Romdhani. He tells openDemocracy’s Rosemary Bechler why he prefers Marxist economist Samir Amin to Muslim reformer Tariq Ramadan.
Wednesday 20th October

The European Social Forum: time to get serious

Paul Kingsnorth, 20 October 2004
Will political and commercial dogma crush the liberating energies of the world’s social justice movements? The European Social Forum in London leaves Paul Kingsnorth with mixed feelings.
Sunday 17th October

A shaft of light at the European Social Forum

Paul Kingsnorth, 17 October 2004
Amidst the litter-strewn floors and hard-left headbangers at the 2004 European Social Forum, Paul Kingsnorth raises his eyes to the stars.
Tuesday 12th October

Another world is possible, if!

Susan George, 12 October 2004
It’s time that the global social justice movement moved beyond its “another world is possible” mantra towards a political strategy. In the week of the 2004 European Social Forum, veteran French-American global justice campaigner Susan George tells Caspar Henderson of openDemocracy that Europeans need to focus, organise – and lead.
Wednesday 6th October

'Islam for me was more punk than punk': Aki Nawaz interviewed

Angela Saini, 6 October 2004
The next social revolution will happen where power lies, in the west – and it will arise from the developing world’s global diaspora. Ahead of the European Social Forum in London, leading British Asian musician and founder of Nation Records, Aki Nawaz, talks to openDemocracy.

Oil <em>jihad</em> in the Niger delta?

Bronwen Manby, 6 October 2004
Record world oil prices are raising rumours of jihad in the Niger delta. But the conflict in Nigeria’s oil-producing heartland is more complex and localised than this suggests, says a human rights researcher who has met the rebel leader “Mujahid” Asari Dokubo.
Tuesday 24th August

The invisible majority: Venezuela after the referendum

Ivan Briscoe, 24 August 2004
The decisive referendum victory of Venezuela's populist president, Hugo Chávez, guarantees the continuation of the Latin American oil state's tumultuous political experiment. But in the wake of its latest electoral triumph, can Chávez's "Bolivarian revolution" develop a larger capacity to heal the country's deep schisms? 
Wednesday 28th April

West Papuans: neither lads nor cannibals, but humans

Paul Kingsnorth, 28 April 2004
The western half of New Guinea is seeking to follow East Timor and win independence from rule by Indonesia’s military and global corporations. When media stereotypes add insult to injury, its campaigners find creative ways to protest.
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