Approach to, and structure
of the topic of Democracy
Approach
The issue of Democracy should be one
of the topics of the Forum and, therefore,
it is not enough to include or define
it as a point of reference for the focus
of the three other themes, which are:
human rights, drug trafficking, and
war. Our approach arises from this premise,
not without pointing out, however, that
to avoid the loss of, and sense of direction
on, the issue of Democracy, within the
framework of this forum, it is imperative
to pose certain questions that relate
it to other themes of this debate. In
other words, a sense of inter-relationship
of this theme will be maintained throughout.
All topics will be embraced globally,
with the purpose of later examining
the way in which the Colombian situation
is being addressed in the context of
a global perspective.
This approach must define the scope
we wish to give this matter within the
framework of the WSTF, establishing
thereby the size and dimensions of interest
in the matter, and the resulting significant
questions for the development of the
event. To this effect, the topic will
be broken down into three areas.
A. The state
of present-day discussions about democracy
The goal is to establish a venue which
will allow discussion of this matter
as well as the establishments of points
of controversy. There is no intent
to wear out a subject on which there
is ample literature, but instead point
out those elements of the debate which
may be relevant to the development
of the WSTF, and which may, by the
way, contribute to this discussion
at the core of the World Social Forum.
Along this train of thought, it should
be pointed out that “the really
existing democratic system”
leaves a great deal to be desired,
showing deep cracks that separate
political democracy from those aspects
related to social and economic democracy.
Conditions such as social exclusion,
poverty which affects two thirds of
humanity, the ever greater power of
multinational companies, the use of
force and the use of the world’s
mass media to maintain this unjust
order, must call our attention, without
losing track , of course, of what
contemporary authors who handle this
subject consider to be a most important
aspect of this debate, which finds
itself in the middle of the representative/direct
democracy debate. This subject has
up to now been approached from a theoretical
point of view, along with very diverse
theories and ideologies (republicanism,
classical liberalism, communitarianism,
etc) But they all share the premise
that the relationships between representation
and participation constitute a convergent
defining point on democracy and the
challenges it presently encounters.
In a recent article, Boaventura de
Souza Santos and Leonardo Avritzer
strengthened the theory that during
the second half of the twentieth century
the liberal representative model became
hegemonic for reasons not within our
present scope, but that in the last
three decades other modalities have
gained a great deal of ground (participative
democracy in its various forms), these
being the product of the crisis that
the classical model has experienced
in recent years (tensions between
representation and the exercise of
citizenship, between democracy and
exclusion, distance between representatives
and the represented, loss of a political
central focus, etc.)
According to Santos and Avritzer,
participative democracy is based on
a new “social grammar”,
whose main elements are the concepts
of socio-cultural diversity, pluralisms,
active citizenship, claiming of identities
and subjectivities, autonomy and strengthening
of public space, among others. Controversy
surrounding these two models has not
only brought about new forms in the
treatment of relations between society
and the State; it has posed new questions
for this discussion. Some of them
can thus be formulated:
--- How to incorporate, in terms of
the broad exercise of citizenship,
within the bounds of political decision
making, those groups of people who
have traditionally been excluded from
such decisions? (women, youths, ethnic
minorities?)
---How to resolve the tension existing
between social inequality and formal
political equality? In other words,
how to assure social involvement and
political democracy at the same time?
---How to present, in terms of problems
and solutions, the questions of national
sovereignty and local autonomy, concepts
which are closely related to the exercise
of democracy in the context of globalization?
---How to understand the crisis of
policy and how to overcome it in political
terms?
---Which would be the way to build
strong links between political representation
and citizens participation?
It would also be very useful to reflect
upon market and democracy relations
and, in the most recent junctures,
the limits imposed upon the development
of democracy by the new world economic
order, associated to the neo-liberal
doctrine. In this sense, it would
be very useful to examine the relationship
between democracy-authoritarianism-war.
b) democracy and globalization This point brings to light
the previous discussion and places
it in a spot that is of direct interest
to the Forum. Various academic authorities
scholars of globalization (Beck, Giddens,
to cite just two), point out that
one of its characteristics is the
lack of existence of a “ world
government” which may establish
and impose certain rules of the game
in the workings of international relations
(economic, political, cultural, etc.).
It is known that today, within the
context of neo-liberal globalization,
the big international decisions are
made by international economic corporations
and by multilateral agencies (IMF,
WB, IDB, WTO, etc.) As can also be
seen, in this new world order, there
exists American hegemony through the
battles being fought for world domination
between the different power blocks.
Such decisions affect the planet in
general and influence the sovereignty
of the nation states by placing the
rules of the game “above”
national interests. Therefore, there
is a world economy, a world market,
and what’s more, a global civil
society that is being weaved, but
lacking a world government. In this
manner, globalization shows an architecture
based on the big multinationals and
the agencies of multilateral “cooperation”,
which in good measure are managed
by a few countries with great power.
This is what Beck describes as sub-politics.
This poses important questions:
---Who rules the world, who gains,
who loses?
---How are national states and local
governments facing this globalization
model?
---What alternative proposals can
be presented under the perspective
of new globalization (solidary, without
exclution, etc)
c. Questions.
This third part addresses the questions
we can pose, under the perspective
of the present and the future, especially
relating to other topics of this forum.
Such interrogations can refer to two
kinds of questions:
---First, the relationship between
democracy and the other topics of
this forum, with relation to the influence
of the humanitarian crisis, anti-
narcotics policies and war, and their
effects on democracy in the world.
---Second, questions about what to
do, both in terms of proposals and
policies (Tobim Rate, management of
foreign debt, controls on multinationals,
new role of international organizations,
etc.) as well as social action by
civilians with respect to all these
matters.
MAIN CONFERENCE,
PANELS AND DISCUSSION TABLES
The conference, will be presented by
Boaventura de Souza Santos, and will
revolve around his views within the
context of the WSTF, regarding the present
debate on democracy and the challenges
facing the future, both in terms of
models as well as political action.
1. Pluralism,
citizenship, identities and democracy:
Will encompass the ongoing debates
on the inclusion of new topics in
the public stage, which up to now
have been marginal in the functioning
of the political democratic systems,
as well as the perspectives of participative
democracy. The speakers will be men
and women who have worked on the topic
of democracy from the point of view
of feminism, ethnic minorities, political
pluralism, multiple cultures, communications,
political opinion
Speakers:
---Chantal Mouffe (Europe),
---Radha Kumar, (India),
Moderator: Giampiero Rasimelli, co-president
of the forum of the Third Italian
Sector.
2. Globalization , democracy,
and new global citizenship practices:
American hegemony and its consequences
on democracy. The controversy will
be set forth on the great decision
makers on a world scale and their
consequences on national and local
societies. It is of interest reflect
upon the crisis in politics and democratic
systems; its root causes and consequences,
but at the same time we must also
examine new political practices within
the citizenry and within democracy;
so, too, with respect to the Social
Forum’s own experience; finally,
movements toward a new globalization.
The marches against war on February
15th are proof of the emergence of
a global citizenry and civil society.
Is this possible? How to strengthen
this growing mesh?
Speakers:
--- Manuel Castells
--- Sonia Fleury*
--- Adela Cortina
--- Candido Grzybowski*
--- Orlando Fals Borda*
Moderator: Fabio Velasquez*
3. Liberties, terrorism and
democracy
Beginning with the terrorist attacks
perpetrated in New York against the
twin towers on September 11th, 2001,
a real concern has surfaced throughout
the world regarding this phenomenon,
for in and of itself it limits the
rights of the citizenry, producing
a generalized feeling of fear and
insecurity At the same time, in response,
various states, but mainly the United
States, have adopted restrictive measures
that limit civil and political liberties.
They have also instituted anti-terrorist
statutes and, more recently, “preventive
wars” which threaten limitations
on liberties and the criminalizing
of mobilizations as well as of movements
as expressions of legitimate citizens’
and peoples’ resistance to unjust
attack based on economic interests.
The international institutional network,
built with a great deal of effort,
such as the United Nations Organization,
views itself as seriously threatened
by the lack of recognition by the
major powers, headed by the United
States, as in the recent war against
the people of Iraq.
Speakers:
--- Norbert Lechner
Discussion
table
1. A new world democratic order
Guests:
--- Samir Amin
--- Emilio Pradilla Cobos
2. World Security and Democracy: a democratic
alternative to the war on terrorism?
