At the World Social Forum in Tunis: Fighting the commodification of nature

Abstract

For the first time a world social forum, a mega-event of the opponents of neo-liberal globalization, was held in the Arab world, in a certain sense to honor the country where the so-called Arab Spring began. At the center of the debates were naturally the questions of democratization, popular participation, trade union rights, minorities and migrants, especially the scandalous marginalization of the Palestinian people, foreigners in their own land, to which a large part of the conference was devoted. The focus was thus rather political, but there was plenty of room for the treatment of other topics, such as for the first time that of agriculture, the common point being the results of neoliberalism in the impoverishment of small farmers and also in the destruction of the environment.