Suchergebnisse

Der Autor wirft einen kritischen Blick auf das "World Social Forum" (WSF), das vom 20.-25. Januar 2007 in Nairobi stattfand. Als alternative Gegenbewegung zum Weltwirtschaftsforum in Davos wird hier seit dem ersten Treffen in Porto Alegre 2001 unter dem Motto "Another world is possible" mobilisiert. Die Teilnehmerzahl lag jedoch nach offiziellen Angaben mit ungefähr 50.000 Menschen deutlich unter jener vorheriger Treffen, bei denen - nicht zuletzt dank der enormen lokalen bzw. innerstaatlichen Mobilisierung im lateinamerikanischen bzw. indischen Umfeld - bis zu 200.000 sozial bewegte Aktivisten anwesend waren. Auch wurde als Reaktion auf das erste Forum in Porto Alegre 2001 in einem Manifest der Gruppe "Antikapitalistische Jugend" kritisch angemerkt, es handele sich beim WSF eher um Versuche zur Humanisierung des Kapitalismus denn zu seiner Abschaffung. Tatsächlich war nach Abklingen der anfänglichen Euphorie über den weltweiten Mobilisierungserfolg die Tendenz zu einer neuen Hierarchisierung der Welt erkennbar. Dies zeigte sich zum Beispiel in diskursiven Kommunikationsstrukturen, die zugleich ein Element von Herrschaftsausübung beförderten. Der Autor diskutiert vor diesem Hintergrund die weitere mögliche Entwicklung des WSF. (ICI2)

The WTO's 10th ministerial conference took place shortly before Christmas 2015, the first to be held in Africa. Verdicts on its outcomes range from "the death of the Doha Round" to WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo's praise for a "historic" package. A more measured assessment reveals a mixed picture. While a number of important decisions were reached in Nairobi, most of the controversial questions were not even on the agenda. And it is less clear than ever where the talks should go from here. A consistent and ongoing shared interest in the global public good of a strong world trade system should persuade the member-states to find constructive new approaches. (author's abstract)

The seventh World Social Forum (WSF) held in Nairobi, Kenya, in January 2007, is related. It is noted that the first WSF was held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2001 as an alternative to the world economic summit held in Davos, Switzerland, with the mobilizing motto "Another World Is Possible." The euphoria of this first meeting, manifested in the participation exceeding 200,000 activists, subsided recently as only 50,000 participants took part in the last WSF, at which the tone of self-criticism & feeling of weariness dominated. The function & goals of WSF as a social & socialist movement are examined, considering whether its objectives of representing the interests of the working class & the poor have become muddled in its growing commercialization & shift in agenda control by the Church & nongovernmental organizations from the North. One of the symptoms of this fatigue with the annual WSF's, is the organizers' decision to forgo a meeting in 2008, opting instead for a mobilized, a world-wide movement on a specific day & devoted to a specific topic. References. Z. Dubiel

I am the only Jew ever invited by the World Council of Churches to an Assembly. With that invitation I attended the latest Assembly, which was held in Nairobi at the end of 1975. For three long weeks I listened, talked to hundreds of delegates, was interviewed on television, lobbied shyly and cautiously for my people, and ate only vegetables and fruit. I found some Christians who had risked their very lives for Jews and open anti-Semites in priestly garb, learned churchmen and ignorant bigots. The Third World was the Assembly's scene and furnished many of its principal actors, but the script could have been as well produced in New Haven or Chicago. There were passionate (and demagogic) speeches aplenty, but the voting was always moderate and the Assembly usually acquiescent. I myself was surrounded by friends and supporters, but I felt very much alone.