The World Social Forum is an open meeting
place where social movements, networks, NGOs and other civil society
organizations opposed to neo-liberalism and a world dominated by
capital or by any form of imperialism come together to pursue their
thinking, to debate ideas democratically, for formulate proposals,
share their experiences freely and network for effective action. Since
the first world encounter in 2001, it has taken the form of a permanent
world process seeking and building alternatives to neo-liberal
policies. This definition is in its Charter of Principles the WSF’s guiding document.
The World Social Forum is also characterized by plurality and
diversity, is non-confessional, non-governmental and non-party. It
proposes to facilitate decentralized coordination and networking among
organizations engaged in concrete action towards building another
world, at any level from the local to the international, but it does
not intend to be a body representing world civil society. The World
Social Forum is not a group nor an organization.
