Declaration of the Assembly of Social Movements at the World Social Forum
2009, Belem, Brazil.
We the social movements from all over the world came together on the
occasion of the 8th World Social Forum in Belém, Amazonia, where the
peoples have been resisting attempts to usurp Nature, their lands and their
cultures. We are here in Latin America, where over the last decade the
social movements and the indigenous movements have joined forces and
radically question the capitalist system from their cosmovision. Over the
last few years, in Latin America highly radical social struggles have
resulted in the overthrow of neoliberal governments and the empowerment of
governments that have carried out many positive reforms such as the
nationalisation of core sectors of the economy and democratic
constitutional reforms.
In this context the social movements in Latin America have responded
appropriately, deciding to support the positive measures adopted by these
governments while keeping a critical distance. These experiences will be of
help in order to strengthen the peoples’ staunch resistance against the
policies of governments, corporations and banks who shift the burden of the
crisis onto the oppressed. We the social movements of the globe are
currently facing a historic challenge. The international capitalist crisis
manifests itself as detrimental to humankind in various ways: it affects
food, finance, the economy, climate, energy, population migration … and
civilisation itself, as there is also a crisis in international order and
political structures.
We are facing a global crisis which is a direct consequence of the
capitalist system and therefore cannot find a solution within the system.
All the measures that have been taken so far to overcome the crisis merely
aim at socialising losses so as to ensure the survival of a system based on
privatising strategic economic sectors, public services, natural and energy
resources and on the commoditisation of life and the exploitation of labour
and of nature as well as on the transfer of resources from the Periphery to
the Centre and from workers to the capitalist class.
The present system is based on exploitation, competition, promotion of
individual private interests to the detriment of the collective interest,
and the frenzied accumulation of wealth by a handful of rich people. It
results in bloody wars, fuels xenophobia, racism and religious
fundamentalisms; it intensifies the exploitation of women and the
criminalisation of social movements. In the context of the present crisis
the rights of peoples are systematically denied. The Israeli government’s
savage aggression against the Palestinian people is a violation of
International Law and amounts to a war crime, a crime against humanity, and
a symbol of the denial of a people’s rights that can be observed in other
parts of the world. The shameful impunity must be stopped. The social
movements reassert their active support of the struggle of the Palestinian
people as well as of all actions against oppression by peoples worldwide.
In order to overcome the crisis we have to grapple with the root of the
problem and progress as fast as possible towards the construction of a
radical alternative that would do away with the capitalist system and
patriarchal domination. We must work towards a society that meets social
needs and respects nature’s rights as well as supporting democratic
participation in a context of full political freedom. We must see to it
that all international treaties on our indivisible civic, political,
economic, social and cultural rights, both individual and collective, are
implemented.
In this perspective we must contribute to the largest possible popular
mobilisation to enforce a number of urgent measures such as:
* Nationalising the banking sector without compensations and with full
social monitoring, * Reducing working time without any wage cut, * Taking
measures to ensure food and energy sovereignty * Stopping wars, withdraw
occupation troops and dismantle military foreign bases * Acknowledging the
peoples’ sovereignty and autonomy ensuring their right to
self-determination * Guaranteeing rights to land, territory, work,
education and health for all. * Democratise access to means of
communication and knowledge.
The social emancipation process carried by the feminist, environmentalist
and socialist movements in the 21st century aims at liberating society from
capitalist domination of the means of production, communication and
services, achieved by supporting forms of ownership that favour the social
interest: small family freehold, public, cooperative, communal and
collective property.
Such an alternative will necessarily be feminist since it is impossible to
build a society based on social justice and equality of rights when half of
humankind is oppressed and exploited.
Lastly, we commit ourselves to enriching the construction of a society
based on a life lived in harmony with oneself, others and the world around
(”el buen vivir”) by acknowledging the active participation and
contribution of the native peoples.
We, the social movements, are faced with a historic opportunity to develop
emancipatory initiatives on a global scale. Only through the social
struggle of the masses can populations overcome the crisis. In order to
promote this struggle, it is essential to work on consciousness-raising and
mobilisation from the grassroots. The challenge for the social movements is
to achieve a convergence of global mobilisation. It is also to strengthen
our ability to act by supporting the convergence of all movements striving
to withstand oppression and exploitation.
