World Social Forum

The World Social Forum (WSF) began in 2001 as a civil society counterpoint to the corporate-organized World Economic Forum. The global gathering is now held semiannually in a location in the Global South. Activists from diverse movements, cultures, and faith traditions come together in the WSFs to share analyses of the social effects of economic globalization, to strengthen alliances, and to exchange experiences and organizing strategies. It is seen as a process because it explicitly links discussions and organizing experiences across time and place. The WSF aims to build a transnational movement and encourage what analysts have called “experiments in global democracy.” The longevity of the effort and the large numbers of people it has mobilized demonstrate its political significance.

Organized around the idea that “another ...