Christians gather at Davos alternative
-31/01/05
As the political and financial elites of the world gather at an exclusive ski resort in Switzerland, representatives of grass-roots economic justice campaigns in the global south – including many Christians – have chosen a venue at the other side of the world for their information exchange.
The World Social Forum opened in Porto Alegre, Brazil on 26 January.
The broad agenda of the forum was to push the message that another world is possible.
Events included a panel discussion on “International ethics, religious conflicts and peace” organized by a global ecumenical coalition that included the World Council of Churches (WCC). The panel explored the role of religion in conflicts, and sought to identify resources within religion for overcoming violence.
“Religious conflicts are a reality that societies all over the world have to live with,” said one panel speaker, Rifat Kassis from Palestine. The international coordinator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) pointed to areas like Northern Ireland, the Sudan, Sri Lanka, and emphasized: “What is happening in the Middle East is not unique.”
Further examining the reasons for violence in the name of religion – the magma – professor of theology Ulrich Duchrow from Germany linked newly erupting religious aggression to the presence of a new economic paradigm. “The market is driven by the neoliberal paradigm whose psychological basis creates aggression and competition rather than solidarity. Within this climate, the other is seen as a permanent threat.”
In Davos, leading politicians and financiers discussed the problems of the developing world and the need to rethink the debt burden carried by many countries. But it was left to the delegates in Porto Alegre to address the more controversial cause of poverty and growing inequality ñ unfair terms of trade.
The World Social Forum was also an opportunity for workers and small-scale farmers from around the world to share experiences of their struggles.
Soppexcca, a partner of agency Christian Aid, which supports small coffee farmers in Nicaragua, was able to meet similar organisations from around Central America and discuss the effects of trade liberalisation and how to combat the growing power of agri-business in the region.
Last year when the WSF was held in Mumbai, one-fifth of the participants were Dalits, the lowest caste in India, who are forced to take on the most menial and unpleasant tasks in society.
Following last year’s forum, the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights, a Christian Aid partner, organised a trip to Brazil. There, they spent a week with Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, MST, another Christian Aid partner that works with landless people across Brazil.
There are many parallels to be drawn between the Brazilian and the Indian organisations. Both partners comprise and represent groups who are denied access to land. Both use direct action and the courts to overturn their unjust exclusion.
Christians gather at Davos alternative
-31/01/05
As the political and financial elites of the world gather at an exclusive ski resort in Switzerland, representatives of grass-roots economic justice campaigns in the global south – including many Christians – have chosen a venue at the other side of the world for their information exchange.
The World Social Forum opened in Porto Alegre, Brazil on 26 January.
The broad agenda of the forum was to push the message that another world is possible.
Events included a panel discussion on “International ethics, religious conflicts and peace” organized by a global ecumenical coalition that included the World Council of Churches (WCC). The panel explored the role of religion in conflicts, and sought to identify resources within religion for overcoming violence.
“Religious conflicts are a reality that societies all over the world have to live with,” said one panel speaker, Rifat Kassis from Palestine. The international coordinator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) pointed to areas like Northern Ireland, the Sudan, Sri Lanka, and emphasized: “What is happening in the Middle East is not unique.”
Further examining the reasons for violence in the name of religion – the magma – professor of theology Ulrich Duchrow from Germany linked newly erupting religious aggression to the presence of a new economic paradigm. “The market is driven by the neoliberal paradigm whose psychological basis creates aggression and competition rather than solidarity. Within this climate, the other is seen as a permanent threat.”
In Davos, leading politicians and financiers discussed the problems of the developing world and the need to rethink the debt burden carried by many countries. But it was left to the delegates in Porto Alegre to address the more controversial cause of poverty and growing inequality ñ unfair terms of trade.
The World Social Forum was also an opportunity for workers and small-scale farmers from around the world to share experiences of their struggles.
Soppexcca, a partner of agency Christian Aid, which supports small coffee farmers in Nicaragua, was able to meet similar organisations from around Central America and discuss the effects of trade liberalisation and how to combat the growing power of agri-business in the region.
Last year when the WSF was held in Mumbai, one-fifth of the participants were Dalits, the lowest caste in India, who are forced to take on the most menial and unpleasant tasks in society.
Following last year’s forum, the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights, a Christian Aid partner, organised a trip to Brazil. There, they spent a week with Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, MST, another Christian Aid partner that works with landless people across Brazil.
There are many parallels to be drawn between the Brazilian and the Indian organisations. Both partners comprise and represent groups who are denied access to land. Both use direct action and the courts to overturn their unjust exclusion.