Ground Zero at the World Economic Forum

By Dara Colwell, AlterNet. Posted February 4, 2002.

As is New York tradition, the velvet rope was firmly in place last week outside the Waldorf Astoria. The exclusive hotel was host to the World Economic Forum -- a nongovernmental organization for corporate and political chiefs and their well-heeled friends -- and the rope's "no money, no entry" policy was strictly enforced. While the local police kept the public at good distance, the crowd still made plenty of noise.

The New York protests surrounding the WEF were the first large rally for global justice since last September's anti-World Bank/IMF protests were cancelled in Washington D.C. They went relatively peacefully, with public demonstrations almost nonexistent until the third day of the meeting. For the first time in its 31-year old history, the WEF convened outside its usual haunt, the luxury resort town of Davos, Switzerland. By shifting to New York, the WEF escaped the throngs of European protestors who regularly turn Davos into a war zone -- a move activists say was no accident.

"The WEF claims it's here to show solidarity with the city," said David Graeber of the Anti-Capitalist Convergence, one of the organizers of the anti-WEF protests. "We feel outraged they're cynically manipulating our grief to have a posh party."

The World Economic Forum is a 21st-century capitalist institution if there ever was one. Funded by members from 1,000 of the largest multinational corporations, it provides an opportunity for high-powered elites (who pay up to $30,000 to attend) to make plans for future globalization measures. Its self-proclaimed mission of "improving the state of the world" is bogus, protestors contend, as the forum's corporate-led agenda often directly benefits its membership. While the WEF issues no policies or legislation, it does advise the World Trade Organization. And all this happens over swank cocktails behind ornate closed doors.

Against a backdrop of public and police sensitivity to September's terrorist attacks, the demonstrations in New York were unsurprisingly subdued. The main focus for those critical of the WEF were a series of workshops, led by representatives from socially conscious nongovernmental organizations and economists specializing in globalization issues. Unlike in Seattle, the only fists being raised in New York were those of international spokesmen advocating for change.

"The WEF is an elitist, feudalistic dinosaur that needs to collapse," said Adam Ma'anit of Holland's Corporate Europe Observatory. Ma'anit, who spoke at The Public Eye on Davos conference held across from the United Nations, added: "Last year's slogan -- provided by WEF's sponsor McDonald's -- was, 'Think globally, eat locally.'" Ma'anit told a room crowded with people balancing on plastic chairs, "this year, the slogan here in New York is, 'Another world is possible.'"

The "downshift" in tactics from radical street protest to calm discourse showed that another world was possible for protestors -- at least for the time being. Activist leaders didn't opt for a multi-day street protest, largely because of the local media's hostility to potential violence and the police department's "zero tolerance" stance. Even the Village Voice, normally staunchly supportive of social activism, gave deference to the NYPD, portraying officers as ruddy-cheeked, "multi-ethnic centurions," battling violent anarchists who scratched cars and "cost the poor drivers a day's pay."

By the second day of the WEF meeting, and with only eight arrests made at a small demonstration for fair wages outside a mid-town GAP store, the local media seemed somewhat taken aback by the lack of violence and began mocking activists. Two faux protestors appeared on the Conan O'Brien Show, kitted out in Halloween masks. "Hey man, you belong to the show!" one shouted from the audience. "You should be Conan O'Pressor."

What most media failed to notice was that many representatives of global justice, environmental and labor groups were missing from New York. They were at the second World Social Forum, hosted in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The WSF, which parallels the WEF but focuses on developing an alternative, third world vision of globalization, attracted an estimated 50,000 participants, who danced in the streets, waving banners and chanting against globalization. "The real story is Porto Alegre, not the streets of New York," said Mike Dolan, deputy director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, at a press conference. "That's why my boss is there and I'm here."

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