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The "World Social
Forum" in Porto Alegre, Brazil:
Manifestation of a New Phase in Human History
What I saw and felt in Porto Alegre (PA) is, for me,
a manifestation of something that I feel is radically new in the history of
humanity, a manifestation of something extremely beautiful and hopeful that
seems to be brewing in the hearts and minds of many people around the world
waiting for moments and opportunities for it to be active and alive, a
manifestation of a dream that I believe embodies this new phase in human
existence, a manifestation of something that is already going on by many groups
and individuals in various places around the world and that together built the
spirit and momentum in Porto Alegre.
The spirit I witnessed and felt and shared in PA is
not new. People throughout history created spaces for themselves to act
and live as much as possible outside dominant systems and structures, and
sometimes in spite of them, such as the Blacks in the Americas, where music,
singing and dancing were part of the means which they used to express the
freedom in the spaces they created. What was new in Porto Alegre was the
fact that more than 100,000 people, from over 100 countries, came together on
their own, mainly representing themselves, to say in practice that “another
world is possible,” and that this possibility is not a dream but a
reality. No one was excluded because of race, color, background, age,
country, belief, interest, concern etc. There were no measurements of any
sort, and no prizes; no one was first, second or third. No one wanted to
own or control the spirit or the event; every one shared in creating it.
[What makes this spirit particularly invigorating for me is that it is so much
in harmony with the spirit that I currently work with in the Arab Education
Forum and qalb el-umour project, which means that many people in various
places, around the world, are converging around certain basic convictions and
principles related to our perception of humanity, its relation to the world,
and how we relate to one another.] The space in Porto Alegre was
everyone’s to use in the way they saw fit, as long as they saw that that space
belongs also to others. Singing and dancing groups from South and Central
America, as well as other places, performed wherever they found a space they
could use. There was a lot of happiness, aliveness, tenderness, and
hope. It is a very hopeful gathering in a world that tries to convince
everyone that the goal of life is security and not happiness, and that any
stranger is a potential enemy. In Porto Alegre, we were all strangers and
there was so much loving feelings flowing among people, so much caring, so many
conversations. Eating simply and healthily was part of the spirit.
Eating is a social activity, which involves farming, preparing, sharing, and
interacting, and not only ready food to be consumed. In that big tent,
which housed “eating,” there was nothing instant, pre-packaged, junk, or some
other “global” manufactured food. There were fresh fruits and vegetables,
brought by farmers from around Porto Alegre, and prepared or cooked in front of
people. Juices were all fresh under that tent, squeezed, prepared and
served in front of the person ordering them. Everything was delicious,
nutritious, appetizing, and fresh. It made me realize the difference
between “food” as a commodity and “eating” as a social human healthy activity.
What was distinctive about the gathering in Porto
Alegre, and made me feel that it marks a new phase in the existence of human
societies, was the spirit among huge numbers of strangers, and the various
small invisible things, which one can only feel by being there. [What I
am trying to do here is to convey that spirit but, of course, it cannot be the
same as being there.] It was a generous and hospitable spirit. This
spirit is common in traditional societies (that is, societies that are rooted
in the soil of the land and the soil of culture where people live). What
is not common, but was there in the gathering in Porto Alegre was the size,
diversity, and aliveness of people who were there, and the hope and good
feelings the gathering generated. In a sense, one characteristic of the
new phase, which I felt the gathering in Porto Alegre manifested, is people
transcending the mentality of big empires, big armies, big corporations, and
big budgets. [The fee to enter and attend all panels and workshops, and
to share in the spirit, was 3 Brazilian Riais, less than 1 USD! In
addition, tents and camps were set up to accommodate tens of thousands of
students and young people.]
After the Soviet Union decided not to play the game
of big empires any longer, and dismantled itself, many people were depressed or
confused, but others felt that it is time to act, think, express, and relate in
new ways; that it is time for people to regain their responsibility in making
‘another world is possible’ a reality. Since then, people have been
re-discovering themselves and re-gaining their sense of responsibilities and
possibilities (witness, for example, the millions around the world who poured
into the streets on February 15, 2003, saying that war can never be a way or an
answer to solve human and social problems). People are re-discovering the
plurality in human existence, in living, knowing and expressing, and in
re-defining the words they use. More and more people are realizing that
believing in a single, undifferentiated path for progress (referred to usually
as universal thinking), has been a major factor in destroying diversity and
pluralism, forcing learning to move along narrow paths, equating understanding
to acquiring information and technical skills, and pushing wisdom aside. The
logic embedded in universal thinking naturally leads to the belief that one
person/ people/ nation/ country/ religion/ culture can be absolutely better
than another (according to some supposedly universal measure!) and, thus, can
impose their ideas and ways on the world at large. The belief that one’s ideas
and ways are the best is not new. What is new (and exclusively characteristic
of western civilization) is the successful diffusion/ dissemination, through
“universal” tools (softly or coercively), of certain beliefs and practices as
universal. The most effective tool has been education as it has been
conceived and practiced during the past 300 years – through a curriculum taught
to all students, and through standards, measures, concepts and meanings that
are claimed to be universal. Mathematics and the sciences with their
claims to universal truths, and technology with its magical impact on people,
have been part of this triumphant march of universal thinking and the belief in
a linear path for progress. Ignoring wisdom and pushing it outside
people’s consciousness seemed necessary for science and technology to develop
at an amazing rate. However, they have been, at the same time, a main
cause of the catastrophic situation and trends, which we witness today around
us. Life cannot hold together for too long without wisdom.
“Another world is possible” (which is the motto of
the World Social Forum) necessarily embodies a change in the way people feel
about themselves, their role, their perception of humanity and its place and
role in the world. Many who still think that we need another big empire
in order to safeguard people around the world fail to see, or consider as
significant, the rise of people. It has been a fact throughout history
that when structures fall or are weakened, people rise. (I felt it on
several occasions in my life and work.) People who met in Porto Alegre
were a manifestation of people around the world who are regaining their feeling
of dignity and their sense of responsibility to create what they find more in
tune with their humanity. In Porto Alegre, there were many worlds in one
place, many cultures and worldviews interacting in ways that did not feel the
need to come out with one declaration for all. In a world that attempts
to put everyone on the same track, the gathering in Porto Alegre was a welcome
spirit that not only believes in pluralism but actually lives it, manifesting
it in every aspect. In a world that is governed by market values, it is
very hard for governments to play an independent and human role, even if they
wished so. In order to survive, governments (in today’s world) can only
act as employees serving capital and dictated by it. Even in science,
faculty and students in the main “science” centers and universities in the
world today, seem to follow a path where their main dream is to become
consultants. Searching for truth or seeking answers to burning questions
and passions is rare in today’s world.
The gathering in Porto Alegre was a sort of United
Peoples (in contrast to United Nations), a sort of globalization that embodies
different values and spirit. The gathering manifested a different logic;
a true manifestation of “another beautiful world is possible.” What I
found so beautiful about Porto Alegre was that it gave space to all, a space
where people moved and interacted freely and honestly.
Probably what most people seem to share around the
world today is that there is something deeply wrong with how the world has
developed (at least during the past 100 years), how it is being run, how
humanity is perceived, how we relate to the world, how we relate to one
another, as well as with the dominant patterns of thinking and consumption, and
the values we live by.
For such big and diverse numbers of people to be
together, with hardly any police around and no regulations about how people
should behave and treat one another, where every one has room to say what s/he
wants, where you hardly see anyone pushing or shouting at another; where I
didn’t see one face frowning or unhappy, where young people act and behave
freely but always considerate of others… is a powerful statement of trust and
faith in people. I don’t think there has been anything like this
throughout history. [May be the closest I know of is the Hajj to Mecca,
where people gather on their own, from all around the world, each representing
himself/ herself and goes as an equal to all others. The Hajj is an
annual international gathering of hundreds of thousands of people that has been
taking place, every year, for the past 1422 years, with not one year
missing! I always said that I hope that that spirit is extended to
encompass all people and all areas, and not only Muslims and not only
religion. I thought that what I was dreaming of, and mentioning it often
in my talks, is so far fetched. In Porto Alegre I saw it happening, I saw
its seeds flourishing and growing. In this sense, I believe that the
gathering in Porto Alegre and its spirit are manifestations of a new phenomenon
in the world; a phenomenon that responds to a deep human need of living with
love, trust and faith.
One negative comment, which I heard from few people,
was that the event was chaotic because there were constantly some changes in
the program. I said to one who mentioned that comment, “You are like
someone who is standing next to a window and ignoring the wonderful breeze
coming through and the beautiful scene outside, and all what you notice is some
crack or dirt on the frame of the window!” Caring for the frame over the
spirit has been, in my opinion, what marked modern civilization in its
industrial capitalist form during the past 300 years. The spirit (along
with wisdom) have been imprisoned, ridiculed or made invisible. Porto
Alegre helped in liberating this spirit, and made us aware that, in many
communities, it really never died or even held prisoner. In Porto Alegre,
we discovered that many peoples, across the various worlds, have been
developing in a way different from the way Western countries had developed; we
discovered that it is a blessing to avoid development along the dominant
path. To dream of a world where the values of competition, winning and
control have no meaning is probably difficult in today’s world. Some
would even say that if we try to retrieve diverse traditional cultures and ways
of living, we might perish. May be this is true, but if we do not, we
will certainly perish. The path that western countries developed is
actually a path that is impossible for non-westerners, because, as one Syrian
put it, “If the East wants to be a West, it needs another east to live on”
[i.e. to exploit, to wipe out its populations and steal its resources.]
When I speak of the happy and wonderful atmosphere
and spirit, it does not mean that those who met in Porto Alegre are blind to
the destruction of humanity and environment that has been taking place for at
least a century. They were not living a false and wishy-washy
dream. Many panels and discussions revolved around such issues.
There was a clear awareness that the world is devastated, that a lot of what
has been sold as ideals to us is bankrupt, yet there was a lot of healing and a
lot of hope. There were many initiatives that embody re-inventing life,
after the onslaught on it by claims of creating a perfect tomato, a perfect
grain, and a perfect human being. In contrast to past times, where many
of the problems and disasters were a result of ignorance, most of the disasters
in the modern age, especially in the twentieth century, have been by design,
planned and executed by people who are highly educated. When one reads
how “chaos theory” in math is used to predict, control, and shape the future
according to the interest of the few, or how technology is used to conquer
people’s spaces, leaving very little room where people can live and interact
without being watched, or how economic development is leading most communities
into more injustices and more violence and the environment towards destruction,
we need to stop and rethink. Literally, we need to re-invent
humanity. In Porto Alegre, I felt that peoples from around the world were
re-inventing humanity, not through “think tanks” but through relating to one
another and treating each other differently, and by perceiving themselves and
their relationship to the world differently. The gathering opened, in the
minds of many, new horizons of hope. Vitality was flourishing, the
imagination was constantly fed, the senses were continuously nurtured, and the
mind was nourished with hope and natural diversity. In Porto Alegre, we
learned again that strangers are not to be feared, hated or imitated but to be
welcomed, in generous and hospitable ways, to our hearts and minds, so we can
all grow.
Yes, the gathering in Porto Alegre was a beautiful
dream. There was one thing, however, that I wished was more of, and that I hope
will be more of in future as well as in regional WSF gatherings, one thing that
I personally believe is extremely crucial: the importance of moving from
condemning systems to examining one’s own actions, ways and patterns of living,
consuming, relating, thinking, and expressing, and working on changing these in
us. No doubt, there is a need under certain circumstances to intervene
and try to stop the destruction that is taking place at many levels. But,
what we can do daily (without which things would fall apart again) is to live,
daily, according to different tunes, values, perceptions and meanings, and to
examine our ways and patterns of living, thinking, perceiving, relating, and
expressing.
The beautiful drumming and dancing was a daily aspect
that added so much to the lively and beautiful atmosphere and spirit.
Small children joined real dancers. I thought to myself how different it
is between learning through being taught by professionals, syllabi, and tests,
and learning that takes place through natural settings, with real people.
Learning through exercises lacks aliveness and joy. Most probably, those
wonderful dancers in Porto Alegre never took dancing lessons in the formal
sense but learned through dancing with real dancers all the time. It was
a reminder of the difference between one who learns through formal lessons to
get the right steps and movements and one who lives the atmosphere in its
entirety; one who dances with the intellect and one who dances with the whole
body and soul.
Many felt an amazing flow of loving feelings in Porto
Alegre. There was so much love flowing in every direction, but there was
also many other beautiful things flowing in all directions, such as the feeling
for justice or beauty. There was a flowing sense of justice and of
equality, not in the legal sense, but in the sense of plurality in
living. [It was so hard to go back to Boston, to the manufactured world,
usually referred to as the "developed" world, where everything is measured,
where culture is moneytized, existence quantified, and people and knowledge
commoditified.
Yes, love, happiness, beauty and justice are very
important in life. However, the way I would characterize the spirit that
I felt and lived for few days in Porto Alegre is by saying that life is worth
living in itself, it is joyful. No need for achievements, winning, and
control to make it worthy. Life is abundant with beautiful things – if we
share it graciously and generously, if we learn again how to give without
analyzing or counting, and if we remain attentive and sensitive to what is
happening around us. I feel that gatherings such as the one in Porto
Alegre can help end the conquest of our imagination and free it again to
entertain and live in ways that are unimaginable under dominant structures in
today’s world.
Munir Fasheh
Director, Arab Education Forum
(January 23-28, 2003)
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