NGO and Social Movement Networking in the World Social Forum: An Anthropological Approach

The World Social Forum has become a space for organized citizens to come together for different purposes (support, updates, education, coordination, campaigns, etc.). It has also become a sign of a massive aspiration for the global spread of democratic principles. Its intercultural complexities have not deterred participant organizations from experimenting with new forms of participation and action. The way in which populations from distant corners of our planet have engaged in an open dialogue within the WSF calls also for new ways of understanding such political engagements. This work offers an insight through an anthropological perspective, which suggests a way to observe and analyze complex intercultural dialogues on our common future.

Dr. Raúl Acosta was awarded his doctoral degree in Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford in 2007. He currently teaches and does research at ITESO, a university in Guadalajara, Mexico. His main interests are activism, transnational advocacy networks, political dialogues, and the public sphere.