World Social Forum 2007

Kristina Pearson, a Village Earth Project Coordinator, recently represented Village Earth at the seventh World Social Forum (WSF) held in Nairobi, Kenya January 20-25, 2007. Kenya was an important meeting place for the WSF, as one of the WSF organizers pointed out, that it is the birthplace of humanity – a factor that brings everyone together from all their diversity. The World Social Forum was a gathering of 50,000 representatives of global civil society – a forum for discussion about alternatives to neoliberalism, globalization, and capitalistic-dominated models of global development. The World Social Forum began in 2001 in Porto Alegre, Brazil in response to World Economic Forum held every year at the same time in Davos, Switzerland where the world’s economic elite meet and decide global economic policy. On the contrary, the theme for the WSF is “Another World is Possible” and its purpose to create “economies where all of life is allowed to live.”

There was an incredibly diverse crowd of everyone from tribal African pastoralists to representatives of the United Nations. The leader of the African Social Forum made the poignant statement, “This is not a forum of charity. We are here because we want to be a part of this world.” One of the major themes from the WSF was the active participation and empowerment of indigenous and minority groups especially from the “Global South”. So many people around the world are waiting for governments, NGOs, or corporations to be the active agents of change, but the WSF proved that only the people themselves can change their own world.

The themes of the different WSF events really resonated with the Village Earth process of self-empowered sustainable development led by and for the world’s most marginalized peoples. Many times NGOs are actually holding people back from the creation of truly sustainable, empowered human communities. One common phrase throughout the WSF was “Moving from NGOism to Activism.” I believe this is really a unique feature of the Village Earth process.

Above: Famed Indian activist Vandana Shiva spoke about the importance of building alternatives by learning from indigenous knowledge, an important cornerstone of the Village Earth process.

Vandana Shiva also turned the traditional notion of development on its head saying, “What is development and underdevelopment? To be developed is to be free of fossil fuels. Underdevelopment is being locked into a fossil fuel economy…The South will have to lead with their hearts, hands, and minds.”

The WSF ended with a procession of the different global delegations from Korogocho, one of Africa’s largest slums, to Uhuru (Swahili for Freedom) Park in central Nairobi. One of the WSF organizers ended the program by saying, “All we can do is go home and do our best – that is what we can take from here.”

Below: The World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, Economic Partnership Agreements (Free Trade Agreements), and the World Bank were symbolically taken out of the WSF in a coffin.


The next WSF will be held in 2009 – the location has yet to be decided. If you would like more information about future WSF events, visit the: WSF website

Also, the first ever US Social Forum is to be held June 27-July 1, 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information, please visit the: United States Social Forum website.