Substance Takes Precedence Over Personalities at WSF

 
The international press has paid a lot of attention to who wasn't at the World Social Forum, or who wasn't allowed to come. In at least one case, a controversial speaker also "slipped into" the program. As a tribute to the significance of this year's events, however, the content of the discussions seems to have been much more important than the personalities involved.

The WSF organizers discouraged participation by both government officials and proponents of violence. They nixed the Belgium prime minister and the vice president of the World Bank, as well as spokespersons of the Basque terrorist group ETA. A notable exception was FARC Commander Juli�n Corrado, who spoke at the invitation of one of the workshop organizers. Out of a thousand events, however, the presence of this representative of the Colombian guerrillas got lost in the general euphoria.

Given the quality of the presentations and the enthusiasm of the audience, it seems trivial to dwell on who was or wasn't allowed to come. But it is worth saying that no one mentioned or even missed Venezuelan President Hugo Ch�vez or Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Noam Chomsky was the biggest draw, providing the closest thing to a WSF keynote address. Thousands of people filled the hall and the corridors and any other space adjacent to the room where he spoke on February 1. Chomsky's remarks were covered live on local TV and many hundreds watched on screens set up at the Catholic University, which hosted most of the Social Summit events.

One Italian delegate told me that the Chomsky phenomenon owed most to his attacks on the US. Even if that is true, however, the level of anti-Americanism at the WSF has been almost undetectable. The trend these days is to critique globalization, with anti-imperialism belonging to another era.