Since its inception in 2001, the World Social Forum has tried to bridge the North-South divide to transform the global economic system. Positioning itself as counterweight to the neoliberalism of the World Economic Forum, the “anti-Davos” has been the crossroads for myriad global social movements—for fairer trade rules, for worker rights, for stronger environmental protections, for sovereignty of indigenous peoples, etc. The idea for the WSF originated among Brazilian and French activists who rejected the idea that “there is no alternative” (TINA) to neoliberal capitalism. For the WSF and its supporters, “another world is possible.”
Meeting in Montreal, however, was a controversial decision. Until now, the WSF has held all its major gatherings in cities throughout the global South like Porto Alegre, Dakar, Tunis, and Mumbai. According to one member of the WSF’s governing body, the International Council, “Montreal doesn’t meet any of the criteria for the usual location for the WSF.” Yet the Montreal collective argued for the WSF to shift its perspective on global resistance, moving to “the heart of the Empire” to achieve social transformation. If the altermondialistes were to be effective, they argued, Northerners needed to be drawn into the fight.
