While writing this summary, there was a large scale upheaval in
Baltimore, MD. And the city just enlisted National Guard and curfew to ‘fight’
riots and looting. This is not the America (yes I mean the United States of) I
imagined when I traveled all the way from Taiwan with the so-called American
Dream to this great nation, for the doctoral degree that I believed will one
day provide me a better life. This is not the America that the Founding Fathers
of this nation envisioned. Or maybe theydidenvision this kind of society, a
utopia of the 1%, by the 1%, and for the 1%. Then aren’t we (the 99%) all
doomed?
Just like the Lead Organizer of Boston Social Forum Jason Pramas mentioned at
the beginning of his talk to CafePhilo@Boston participants, “United States is
viewed, from outside, a rich and wonderful country. This is not true. United
States has a long history of racism….” Born in 1966 to a Greek-origin Boston
working class family, Jason has involved in numerous labor activities since he
was a teenager. He saw the change of ideologies and policies of the nation
during 60s and 70s, which culminated during the reign of Ronald Reagan and (on
the other side of Atlantic) of Margaret Thatcher. By embracing neoliberalism,
which revolved aroundlaissez-faireeconomy, deregulation of monetary
system, free-trade, and globalization, the living condition of US labor deteriorated,
as well as their children’s education opportunities. Jason later on
participated in several campaigns to fight for labor rights, and to speak up
for immigrant workers as well as contingent workers. These and other events
(for instance the 1999 Seattle WTO protests and the 2001 World Social Forum in
Porto Alegre, Brazil) led to the inception of Boston Social Forum (BSF), an
Agora-like event open to public for discussions and to envision the future of
society, which was held at UMass Boston in July 2004. More than 5000 people
participated the event, with 550 different programs, over 3 days.(Boston Social
Forum:http://bostonsocialforum.org/archive/)
Suren Moodliar, who was the Program Coordinator during the BSF, later explained
that a major purpose of Boston Social Forum was to connect people and
communities in order to share ideas freely, and to create an open space such
that right matches can be made. It was neither a coalition nor an alliance of
parties. It was the attempt to constructthespace. This also made people to think
about the nature of capitalism, since the developmental dynamic capitalism is
to transition commonly-held spaces to privately-owned properties, which led to
the ultimate reduction of public space. For example, if everything is kept in
private, there can be no shared awareness of social problems. For instance as
long as an individual treats their own unemployment as a private matter, then
public social movement may not emerge to address this problem. And due to the
violent history of this nation and its oppression to certain social groups, BSF
was also doing its best to reach out to people-of-color and immigrant
communities. Despite the fact that their main funding came from donations, they
still managed to raise 0.25 million for the event. This approach is entirely
different from the methodology of some NGOs and philanthropists, which in the
end is not tackling the real problems.
Although it seems to me that these activities, including BSF,
other social forums took place in US, and more recently the Occupy movements,
barely change the course of this country, I think there's still hope as long as
people continue to participate in discussions (especially the ones that people can
talk to each other face to face). As told by Suren in response to one of
audience's question, “In 1985, demonstrations in South Africa always led to
police killing protestors. And the burial of those people will lead to greater
protests and yet more police violence. This seemed to be an endless negative
cycle. But the situation was changed after 5 years (Nelson Mandela was released
from Victor Verster Prison and the negotiation to end Apartheid started). The
irregularity will come, so we’re expecting the change will come in the future.”
So, maybe we're not doomed and the social forums are the birth place of new
(and perhaps real) democracy. To conclude, let me quote a line from David
Graeber's The Democracy Project: “The real origin of the democratic spirit -
and most likely, many democratic institutions - lies precisely in those spaces
of improvisation just outside the control of governments and organized
churches.”
如同波士頓社會論壇(Boston Social Forum，以下簡稱BSF)的主要組織人Jason Pramas在演講的開頭指出：「從外面來看，美國是一個富強而美好的國家。這並不是真相。美國的種族歧視有很長的歷史…」。1966年生於一個希臘移民兼藍領階級家庭，Jason從青少年時期就積極參與各種勞工運動。他見證了美國在60和70年代意識型態及政策的轉變，在雷根和柴契爾(英國)當權的時候來到了新自由主義的全盛時期：自由放任的經濟體制、貨幣系統的去管制、自由貿易、以及全球化，都造成本土勞工生活品質的惡化，以及勞工子女的受教機會下降。Jason之後參與了許多爭取勞工權益的抗爭運動，並為外籍勞工與約聘工作者發聲。這些經驗以及其他發生在世界各地的社會運動，例如1999年西雅圖WTO的抗議行動和2001年於巴西Porto Alegre舉辦的第一場世界社會論壇(World Social Forum)，都成為舉辦BSF的契機。BSF於2004年七月在UMass Boston舉行，是一個公開的論壇式活動，人人都有機會發表、討論各種關於未來社會的可能性；超過五千人參與了這場有五百五十個不同活動、超過三天的公共論壇。
-Economic Insecurity is Now the Norm in the
United States
oThis contrasts with the 1960s when steady jobs
with benefits and retirement pensions, etc. and public education were strong
and available to the majority of the working class and appeared to move in the
right direction for people of color too with the Great Society programs
oNow we have the right of contingent
employment—temp, day labor, partime, contracted, outsourcing—and neo-liberalism
which is more than a set of ideas, it is a set of policies and practices
oOrganizations emerged to fight neo-liberalism
and its expression in employment, contingent work
oThese organizations are different from
traditional trade unions and parties but do focus specifically on employment
issues
-By the time of the Boston Social Forum, these
Organizations Are in Crisis
oFunding is running out (due to several sources,
including economic downturn)
oOrganizations tend to be narrowly focused on one
or other part of the problem
oNeed to escape the traditional non-profit
mindset to achieve mission
-Social Forum offered a model to experiment with
and to get groups out of their silos
oOpen space (Agora)
oSpontaneous collaborations
oAssert and demand that there is an alternative
to capitalism and its neo-liberal phase
Suren:
-The Boston Social Forum recognized that the Open
Space model had its limits
oNeeded to address the original sins of America –
invasion of Native American land and genocide of its people together with the
construction of a White Republic based on African labor power
oDeliberate outreach to communities via
organizations from the communities that were involved in the social forum
process
oAchieved that goal but could not produce an
integration of movements and races at the social forum
-US Social Forum happens three years later with a
10x larger budget
oSuccessful at engaging people of color,
indigenous people, GLBTQI communities, and people with disabilities
oFocused on involving organizations that
organized about working class people of color
oMuch more deliberate focus on the realities of
inequalities within the US
-World Social Forum process
oDraws lines between Global North and South by
occurring opposite the World Economic Forum
oBecomes a platform through which
“untouchability” on a global scale can be addressed; similarly involving
indigenous people
oNow influenced by the Arab Spring
oNext iteration takes place in Montreal in 2016
Additional points emerging during the discussion:
-The left is about more than protest; it builds
alternatives including cooperatives, new forms of wealth, credit unions,
sustainable agriculture, etc.
-Derive optimism from the fact that people with
extreme challenges are fighting and resisting and sometimes winning small
victories – e.g.
oNative Americans or First Nations in Canada
stopping hydrofracking
oMovement for equality involving gay marriage
oGender equality and role of mass entertainment
-“Revolution comes like a thief in the night” –
unexpectedly!
-Massive wealth inequality does not mean we are
permanently deprived of the resources to make social change
oFoundations are not our allies especially ones
like the Gates Foundation which tend to donate in ways that perpetuate
corporate rule
oSocial change occurs when people utilize the
resources around them, especially those that cannot be measured in monetary
terms
§E.g. consciousness raising groups than formed
the basis for the women’s liberation movement and that ultimately changed
western civilization
§Not even the wealthiest foundations could afford
to pay people to conduct the necessary conversations that made up consciousness
raising
§Social change movements always involve the
almost spontaneous release of resources on a scale that surpasses anything
foundations can measure.
