What is SSF

Whatever form the Sheffield Social Forum takes, it is part of a worldwide movement for positive, progressive social change that respects the values of:

• Democracy - far more radical than the representative democracy that, while a hard won prize, has become a sham in many countries as political elites have learned how to reduce the scope for collective self-determination through the bureaucratisation of democratic institutions. Within the social forum movement people practice a more deliberative and direct form of democracy that respects the fact that everybody has a valuable input into discussions and decision making. Through our own individual practice of listening and learning we can make our own views stronger, ultimately leading to more inclusive and more effective decision making.
• Diversity - beyond simply accepting that people are different and have different values, valuing diversity means positively encouraging participation from those who's voices are not in line with the mainstream. One of the most important lessons from the green movement, which understands that each part of the jigsaw of life has a role to play, are the ideas of ecology and evolution. Within any ecology diversity is prized, monoculture cannot sustain life and is prone to spidemic disease. The same is true in the realm of political ideas, and so a range of political foci, definitions of problems and ideas for solutions is very highly valued.
• Human rights - the notion of human rights takes us beyond the old liberal argument that each person should be as free as possible, as long as this is consistent with other's freedoms. This sensible philosophy has been misused by the agents of self-interest and oppression so much that it is necessary to specify concretely what those freedoms are. The 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights' is an excellent document agreed within the United Nations. When we call for greater equality, and when we call for greater freedom, the starting point is the declaration. The difficulty is, of course, making anybody stick to it.

SSF - An Organisation or a Space for Communication?

This is one of the central tensions within the social forum movement as a whole. The World Social Forum charter was intended to avoid the WSF becoming a locus of power over which old rivalries and factionalism within progressive politics would emerge. WSF was therefore set up not to take any decisions as a body, nor to make political statements. The WSF was not to be an organisation with its own concrete identity and ideology, but to be a set of events and processes which facillitated positive social action through the interlinking of its component parts.

Local social forums do not need to take up this charter (although many across Europe have, albeit with slight amendments), and all local social forums seem to have seen the potential limitations of not being able to make coherent group statements or take coherent group action. A social forum could be a new political formation, one that organises itself in a particular way, with a focus on positive inclusivity (i.e. not just accepting diversity, but positively encouraging it), but still makes

The Forum

Perhaps the most distinctive visible feature of the social forum movement are the forums themselves. Most local social forums, taking their lead from the international gatherings, have organised (or are in the process of organising) large inclusive Forums. These are always inclusive sites of discussion, dealing with whatever issues are brought to the table by those who recognise the forum as a potentially useful political space. There are obvious benefits to these events:

• By bringing together a range of political perspectives in one physical space we facillitate the important process of networking among those already active.

But we can do far more than that:

• The Forum acts as a showcase for action for social justice, and can be a startling journey of discovery for the newly politically aware or active, to see just how much work is going on, day in, day out, to better people's lives. Discovery can lead to not just hieghtened awareness but also hightened activity following the empowering lesson that others are out there who share you hopes and aspirations. Implicity, the Forum also highlights the gaps in action for social justice. Campaigns conspicuous by thier absence despite an obvious injustice can prompt action to resolve it.
• By organising the space in a way that maximises encounters between different campaigns the Forum encourages dialogue, we can encourage the recognition of common problems and build solidarity.
• By sharing experience we can also share excitement and learning. The best things in life are free - they're free because by giving them to another we increase the total quantity of the value - not just pass it from one hand to another.

Becoming a Social Forum

The last four years have definitely seen the birth of a new social movement, with a distinctive approach to trying to solve injustice and oppression in the world. But after the birth, growth, development and maturity must follow. The social forum movement will change, rather than oppose that change by clinging on to some idea of what a social forum should be (which in an case will only be one reflection on the reality) we should seek out the ways we can change, absorbing ideas from those who come to the movement later. We should constantly be asking 'what shall we be next?'...