World Social Forum: 10 years after: Elements of a new agenda: The Commons

Silke Helfrich

The multiple crises in food & development, climate & environment and finance mirror a crisis of ideas. Therefore, fresh, coherent and powerful ideas are urgently needed. The World Social Forum has shown for about a decade, that such ideas (and alternatives) are abundant! One of them found it’s way onto the WSF agenda during the 9th World Social Forum 2009 in Belém. After a fruitful and open minded discussion in Belém the „Reclaim the Commons“ Manifesto was launched. It was thought as „global call for an international mobilization campaign to reclaim, protect and recreate the commons.“ So, the WSF opened „a participatory space which allows us to share and discuss ideas and initiatives concerning the future of the commons.“ The Manifesto is now available in 8 languages to sign up and to be discussed.

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Strengthen the Commons

Silke Helfrich

„Neither ‘left’ governments nor ‘left’ social movements can do much more in the short run (next five years) than engage in defensive actions, whose guiding characteristic should be actions that ‘minimize the pain’ of the working strata generally, and the most oppressed and poverty-overwhelmed in particular.“, says Immanuel Wallerstein on this blog.

Dear Mister Wallerstein, I disagree. What we can do is, what generations of commoners have always done. We can: Strengthen the Commons. Now!

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