[WSF-Discuss] [Michiana Social Forum] Being the "change" we want to see in the world

[CACIM]

Monday, February 18, 2008  Being the "change" we want to see in the world

*By Karl Hardy
*

*@
http://www.progressivessouthbend.org/2008/02/being-change-we-want-to-see-in-world.html
*

*Creating our own ideas of citizenship, "doing" politics, and the Michiana
Social Forum*

Unless you've been living under a rock (or maybe just decided to go on a
"media fast"), chances are you've heard about the great desire for "change"
among American presidential primary voters. Pollsters and pundits have hyped
"change" so much that all of the major party candidates have tried to claim
that they, in fact, are the "candidate of change."

Of course rarely, if ever, does anyone stop to discuss what exactly is meant
by "change." And without any substance behind it, "change," means little
other than something - anything - other than what we experience as the
status quo. So, a bunch of wealthy, professional politicians from both major
parties can try and convince the American public to vote for them because,
obviously, none of them are George W. Bush.

Fair enough. I can agree that not being George W. Bush is a start.

But what concerns me is how small, passive, and insignificant this whole
"change" fad makes me and other regular people out to be. The sort of
"change" that I want isn't being talked about by any of the major
candidates. - Yes, some have made vague statements about issues I care
about. No, I'm not saying that there's no difference between the major
parties either. - But the idea that by simply casting my vote for one
politician or another, we will truly bring about the change I believe is so
vitally necessary… ? Nope. I don't buy it. And I think a lot of other people
don't buy it either.

See, I'm convinced that in order for us to tackle the grave ecological
problems we face (global warming, species extinction/reduction of
biodiversity, shortages of both food and energy, pollution, etc.), we must
also address our social problems. I believe the two are inter-related; one
alone can't be fixed – it's going to take creating a more just, more
ecological society if we human are to live sustainably on Earth.

In order to create a more just, more ecological society, we're going to have
to flatten it. By "flatten" I mean we're going to have to make it more
egalitarian and less hierarchical. So long as there's so much power at the
"top" of our society, the ills that plague our society (poverty and, more
generally, economic inequality are at the top of the list) will work to keep
us from making the truly necessary changes so important to heading off
future environmental catastrophes.

Rather than placing my faith in the largely passive act of voting for
political candidates who get to run for president, senator, or the US House
of Representatives precisely because they are at the "top" of our society, I
believe we must take matters into our own hands. If we want a "flatter,"
more just, and more ecological society, we're going to have to build our own
organizations, institutions, and resources without looking for help or
approval from the elites in our communities or society at large.

But there is a lot of cynicism, frustration, and hopelessness about being an
"activist" these days. The powerful forces at work in the world seem so
huge, the stakes so high, and, honestly, activists have developed a bad rap
over the years.

Some of this is justified, some of it isn't.

Some activists can be irritatingly, even arrogantly, self-righteousness
while others can be so passionately focused on their individual concerns
that they seem out of touch or even insensitive to other points of view.

I do, however, think we need to remember that the old "divide and conquer"
strategy works very well. By playing people off of one another, those who
stand to benefit the most from the status quo keep would-be allies arguing
amongst themselves, draining energy away from the important work of bringing
about real change.

:::

Over the past few months I've been a part of what started as a small group
of activists - representing a handful of our community's civic advocacy
organizations - that got together to talk about ways to overcome this
"divide and conquer" problem and inspire everyday people to go beyond the
hype of "change" surrounding the presidential election cycle. A few of us
had heard about and studied something called the World Social Forum and
wanted to try to build our own "Social Forum" right here in Michiana.

The World Social Forum is an annual international meeting of people with
many different interests, backgrounds, and ideas for change all coming
together under the idea that "Another World Is Possible." Since 2001 the WSF
has met in Brazil, Kenya, India, Venezuela, Mali, and Pakistan and inspired
many regional and national "social forums" with the first ever US Social
Forum taking place last summer in Atlanta. The WSF is unique in that it is
an attempt at creating a ­commons – an open, "flat," free space without any
overarching authority – no politicians or bureaucrats posturing in an
attempt to win votes - where democratic discussions and decision-making can
happen and people can build international relationships.

There are several other important aspects to the WSF:

1) It's an ongoing, imperfect process – and this is recognized and
celebrated. The idea is that by working to keep social forums an open space,
over time we'll learn to correct the mistakes we make along the way.
2) An emphasis on building networks of solidarity between peoples and
organizations that may have historically been divided. This includes people
working to re-think their ideas to be more sensitive to others' experiences
and interests.


Locally, we decided to call our start-up effort the "Michiana Call to
Action" to highlight our shared belief in the importance of everyday people
acting for change. We worked to coincide our Call to Action week with the
World Social Forum's Global Call for Action culminating on January 26.
During the week leading up to the 26th we had events and actions centering
on peace and anti-militarism, labor rights, global warming and the
environment. One of the highlights for me personally was watching as
representatives of Jobs with Justice and the Sierra Club stood side by side
in to proclaim their solidarity in a "Blue-Green" alliance of
environmentalists and organized labor, two groups who have long been
portrayed as at odds with one another.

But what was perhaps most exciting and hope-inspiring was seeing
approximately 75 people turn out on a cold, snowy Saturday afternoon at the
downtown South Bend public library for our "Michiana and the World Social
Forums" event. After hearing "report backs" from students who had attended
the US Social Forum last summer, attendees listened as representatives of
local advocacy organizations described their respective groups' efforts.
Each representative also talked about what it meant to be part of a diverse
coalition of change agents.

This had the effect of helping each of us in attendance to begin to relate
to each other as citizens - citizens of our local Michiana community,
citizens of a global human society, and citizens of a worldwide web of
ecosystems. Relating to one each other as citizens didn't mean ignoring our
differences – be they based on age, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity,
religion, economic or, educational status. We were also transcending the
conventional sense of nation-state citizenship that is too often the result
of cynical, politically-charged policies that give and take away rights
based arbitrary national borders.

The last part of the day's program was a break-out session where we split
into small groups to try to answer three questions: What unites us? What
divides? Where do we go from here?

Skeptics might say that all this amounts to is a lot of talk- but I think
this is neglecting the real importance of building trust and constructing a
very different way of "doing politics" – instead of choosing from among a
group of polished, professional politicians, we were laying the groundwork
for future actions and beginning to re-build the institutions of civil
society through face-to-face discussion. That, I truly believe, is what real
change is all about.

:::

The Michiana Social Forum is calling a follow-up meeting to continue the
process and build towards the possibilities of "another Michiana." Please
consider joining us on Sat. Feb 23 at IUSB from 1030am to 1230pm or visit
our website at http://www.michianasocialforum.org/ for more information.
  Posted by Donvila  at 8:15
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