22.08.2002 Note from the Organizing Committee on the principles that guide the WSF
The World Social Forum (WSF) 2002 achieved major political impact,
sparking wide-ranging debate to assess the event, which can be followed at our website. Nonetheless, we feel we should reiterate that the WSF is organized on the basis of the Charter of Principles approved
by the International Council on 10th July, 2001.
Amongst the points of the Charter of Principles, we would like to
recall the following:
a) The WSF defines itself as an "open meeting place"
(point 1), one which is "plural, diversified, non-confessional,
non-governmental and non-party" (point 8).
b) The WSF delimits itself politically as a space "of
groups and movements of civil society opposed to neoliberalism and
to domination of the world by capital and any form of imperialism"
(point 1). Its proposals "stand in opposition to a process of
globalization commanded by the large multinational corporations and
by the governments and international institutions at the service of
those corporations interests, with the complicity of national governments"
(point 4).
c) WSF events are non-deliberative for the WSF as a body.
This point of method is frequently misunderstood, and requires special
note: the WSF "does not constitute a locus of power to be disputed
by the participants in its meetings" and no one will be "authorized,
on behalf of (…) the Forum, to express positions claiming to
be those of all its participants. The participants (…) shall
not be called on to take decisions as a body, whether by vote or acclamation" (point 6). Nonetheless, "organizations or groups of organizations that participate in the Forums meetings are assured the right (…) to deliberate on declarations or actions they may decide on",
which the Forum will disseminate widely (point 7).
d) "The WSF will always be a forum open to pluralism
and to diversity of activities and ways of engaging" (point 9),
which is a source of wealth and strength in the movement for another
world. The Forum will coexist with contradictions and will always
be marked by conflicting opinions among the organizations and movements whose positions lie within the bounds of its Charter of Principles.
e) The WSF is open to all and does not operate on the basis
of invitations. It arranges the conditions necessary for all those
interested in promoting their activities to be able to do so, under
whatever name (workshops, seminars, meetings, forums, etc). The only
activities organized at WSF 2002, on the collective responsibility
of the Organizing Committee and the International Council, were 27
conferences (whose participants were chosen jointly with the facilitators)
and testimonies from 15 personalities. No group or organization whose
profile conforms to WSF principles has been or will be denied the
right to participate in WSF events.
f) The World Parliamentary Forum and the Forum of Local Authorities
dialogue with the WSF and its participants, but were organized as
autonomous events with the same status as the other seminars, the
first by a Parliamentary Commission and the second by the Porto Alegre
City Government, not by the Organizing Committee and by the International Council. The WSF "brings together and interlinks only organizations and movements of civil society from all the countries in the world" (point 5) and "party representations or military organizations
shall not participate in the Forum" (point 9). This does not
mean, "that government leaders and parliamentarians who abide
by this Charter cannot be invited to participate, in a personal capacity"
(point 9). This year, however, the Organizing Committee did not invite
any heads of leaders or parliamentarians to the World Social Forum.
São Paulo, March 7th, 2002
Brazilian Organizing Committee
English text by volunteer translators Helena El Masri and Peter Lenny
updated on 07/31/2010
