World Social Forum 2005

World Social Forum 2005

The World Social Forum (WSF) took place between 26-31 January 2005 in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Like the European Social Forum held in London last October, the WSF is a meeting of organisations and individuals gathering to discuss alternatives to corporate globalisation.

This was the 5th WSF, and the biggest yet, with 155,000 participants from 135 countries involved in the forum, and a staggering 200,000 people taking part in the forum's opening march.

The opening march at the World Social Forum

Friends of the Earth at the WSF

Friends of the Earth teamed up with more than 20 international NGOs to sponsor a one day workshop on dismantling the power of corporations.

Attended by individuals from over 30 countries, the workshop focused on forming an international network to campaign on corporate accountability issues.

The workshop looked at different campaign strategies:

• Economic - the use of boycotts and brand specific campaigns
• Political - grassroots campaigning to lobby politicians and global institutions
• Legal - specific changes to national and international law

Why is there a WSF?

The WSF was created to discuss alternatives to the model of globalisation pushed forward by multinational companies and governments at the World Economic Forum held each January in Davos.

Resource

The World For Sale
(PDF†) January 2003
This briefing is a beginner's guide to corporate globalisation, looking at the reasons why corporate globalisation is happening and its ensuing impacts.

†To view PDF files you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visually impaired users can get extra help with these documents from access.adobe.com.

Image © Ginting Longgena/Friends of the Earth International

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