20 years after the first World Social Forum was held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in the midst of the pandemic the Forum will be held virtually.
While the world is experiencing a crisis that affects the lives of millions of people, multinational corporations and pharmaceutical companies are making unrivaled profits. The European Union, the United States and Israel have guaranteed the research and development of treatments and vaccines with immense public resources, leaving the patents and decisions in the hands of the big pharmaceutical companies which can decide who can be treated and in which country.
At the same time, the crisis, instead of showing the limits of this economic system and the disaster in the social and environmental field it is producing, risks accelerating the divergences between rich and poor, between south and north, intensifying pollution and injustice.
When social movements and organizations at the dawn of the new millennium opened the path of the Social Forums, they did so precisely for a critique of a neoliberal production model on a global scale. By indicating exactly the consequences of which that road would have led and those affirmations were punctually realized.
The force of the thrust of the movements was not enough to stop the advance of financial power over our economies, but in all these years it has served to keep alive the light of a criticism of the system and to indicate possible ways and paths to get out of it with more justice, social and environmental.
Today the path of the World Social Forum, twenty years after the first experiences in Latin America and Europe, can rediscover the possibility of playing an important role in many social and environmental battles.
For this transform!europe, which has been a part of it since its inception, also today participates in the realization of the virtual WSF 2021 by holding its own meetings and participating in convergence assemblies. With the hope that a new role of this common space can make an alternative force grow in our societies to the extent of the challenge we face.
For more information visit the website of the World Social Forum 2021
Programme
23rd January
Marga Ferré (Co-President of transform! europe) shares a video message to the virtual march at the Opening
24th January 17:00 – 19:00 CET (UTC+1)
Militarization and Migration – the world of Human Rights Defenders
The priority given to national and many times nationalistic security in dealing with the worldwide phenomenon of migration has led to a militarisation of certain areas, especially on the borders between Central America, Mexico and the USA. What can civil society do to stop the ongoing violence and corruption and to promote a radical change of policies towards refugees and migrants?
Speakers:
- Daniela Gonzalez (Mexico), Coordinator of the Human Rights Observatory
- Father Alejandro Solalinde (Mexico), on the “Casas de Migrantes”
- Ismael Ortiz(El Salvador), INJUVE – Institute of Youth in El Salvador
- José Antonio Foronda (Mexico), Lawyer, on Peoples Tribunals for Migrants
- Amable Hernandez (Honduras), Mayor of Santa Barbara; Central American Network of progressive mayors.
- Katerina Anastasiou (Austria/Greece), Transform! Europe
Moderator:
- Leo Gabriel (Austria-Mexico), Journalist and Anthropologist, Prague Spring II network, member of the IC of the WSF.
28th January 19:00 CET (UTC+1)
Webinar organized by the transform! europe Working Group on Commons
Health as Common
with Vittorio Agnoletto, specializing in occupational medicine, teaches “Globalization and Health Policies” at the University of Milan, he works as an Occupational Physician on disability commissions, collaborates with the Italian Association Libera in the international sector. Member of the International Council of the World Social Forum, he was the GSF spokesman during the 2001 G8 in Genoa. It broadcasts “37 and 2” on the right to health to Radio Popolare. He is a former European parliamentarian, founder of the Italian League for the Fight against AIDS (LILA) and member of the National AIDS Commission. He is the author of various essays and numerous national and international scientific publications.
Gaëlle Krikorian, currently Head of Policy of the Access Campaign at Medicins sans Frontière (MSF). She holds a PhD in sociology. Her researches concern social movements, globalization, health and technologies. She is a former advisor on Access to Knowledge and Intellectual Property Issues for the Greens/European Free Alliance at the European Parliament. She is author of various articles on the Commons, intellectual property issues, access to medicines, etc.
Moderator is Dario Azzellini, visiting scholar Latin American Studies Program, Cornell University, Ithaca (US), academic and activist. He has published more than 20 books, numerous other writings and 11 documentary films in the areas of critical labour studies and global social change with a special focus on Latin America and Europe.
30th January 19:00 CET (UTC+1)
Cornelia Hildebrandt (Co-President of transform! europe) participates in the ASSEMBLY OF GLOBAL PROCESSES: HOW DO WE RESIST FACISM, AND PROMOTE RADICAL DEMOCRACY?
Roland Kulke, Inger Johansen – participate in the Assembly of Social, Peace and Environmental Movements