Naomi Klien describes her take on the World Social Forum - What Happened to the New Left?

sf.indymedia.org by repost • Thursday January 30, 2003 at 07:32 PM

For me this is mostly a chance to hear some general impresssions of the forum, stats, changes, etc. It seems strange in its organization as an essay - leaving the message until the last couple of paragraphs, not really trying to answer its own questions, and staying focused on the negatives. Stories like this need to spend 3/4 on suggestions for improvement or on educating about the success of differerent formats and offer info on how to achieve that. But this is important and good info, regardless.

Published on Thursday, January 30, 2003 by the Globe & Mail/Canada What Happened to the New Left? by Naomi Klein

The key word at this year's World Social Forum, which ended Tuesday in Porto Alegre, Brazil, was "big." Big attendance: more than 100,000 delegates in all! Big speeches: more than 15,000 crammed in to see Noam Chomsky! And most of all, big men. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the newly elected President of Brazil, came to the forum and addressed 75,000 adoring fans. Hugo Chavez, the controversial President of Venezuela, paid a "surprise" visit to announce that his embattled regime was part of the movement.

"The left in Latin America is being reborn," Mr. Chavez declared, as he pledged to vanquish his opponents at any cost. As evidence of this rebirth, he pointed to Lula's election in Brazil, Lucio Gutierrez's victory in Ecuador and Fidel Castro's tenacity in Cuba.

But wait a minute: How on earth did a gathering that was supposed to be a showcase for new grassroots movements become a celebration of men with a penchant for three-hour speeches about smashing the oligarchy?

www.commondreams.org/views03/0130-03.htm