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Bolivia’s president grabbed the headlines, but the forum is a space outside formal politics with the power to change the world Bolivia’s Evo Morales, the indigenous-movement leader turned president, gave the opening speech at this year’s World Social Forum in Dakar, telling tens of thousands of activists from around the world : “I hope that the World Social Forum will be a school for future presidents: only people organised in movements can change the world!” The catch? Despite his encouraging words, some dyed-in-the-wool forum-goers were unhappy at his participation, citing the forum’s charter of principles , dating back to 2001, that forbids government representatives speaking at official events. With grassroots social movements having overthrown two dictators in the past two months, might now be a moment for these movements to start trying to put their own leaders into positions such as Morales’s? After all, what better way to change society than to take power? From Dakar to Cairo to Tunis to Washington, it is critically important that civil society groups make their mark on society more than just a few times a decade. As any resident of a democratic country knows, if you disagree with your government on a daily basis, heading to the voting booth once every few years can be a deeply disheartening and disempowering experience. And therein lies the real power of the World Social Forum. This was my fourth year in attendance. The forum functions as an ongoing platform for world-changers to exchange ideas face to face, to build international solidarity and to learn from victories and defeats on other sides of the planet. With more than 50,000 people from 123 countries and 1,200 different events, nearly every topic imaginable was on the table this year. One of my most interesting conversations was with the Egyptian activist and entrepreneur, Mamdouh Habashi . Having participated in eight World Social Forums, Habashi left his home in Cairo in the middle of last week’s upheaval to come to Dakar. He told stories of the revolution-in-the-making to eager listeners from India, France, Germany and the US, and related them to the broader movements of the left, both in Egypt and abroad. I asked him if Egypt’s revolution today is really as inwardly focused as some US media sources would have us believe, and he said no. Outcries about the collaboration of Hosni Mubarak and Omar Suleiman with the US made up the first protest chant that Habashi heard on the street when Suleiman was announced as vice-president. Land grabbing was another hot topic at this year’s forum. Land rights activists, many themselves farmers, drew attention to the horrors of the global land-grab currently under way. They argued forcefully that small farmers having access to their own land is essential to combating poverty and to preserving the environment in the global south. Another fascinating and visible group at the forum was Attac (Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions and Aid to Citizens). Its core platform is the taxing of all international financial transactions by a tiny percentage for a global aid fund to combat poverty. Founded in France, it was one of the groups that started the World Social Forum, along with the Brazilian Workers party and Le Monde diplomatique. Even as an American from San Francisco, a city known for its open-mindedness and leftwing politics (we’re less than 10% Republican), one of the things I like most about the World Social Forum is that it shows that the “left” is so much more than a ghettoised island of choir-preaching radicals. It is a wide open space that political parties and electoral politics don’t often allow for. With only two major parties in the US, the room for creative thinking is even more constricted than elsewhere. Though Morales attracted the headlines, I stand behind the World Social Forum’s charter: the gathering must provide a space outside formal politics where progressive activists can hold their own conversations and build a vocal civil society capable of making changes that go far beyond the toppling of dictators. World Social Forum Evo Morales Bolivia Egypt Arab and Middle East protests Land rights David Evan Harris guardian.co.uk