[DEBATE] : Contention, Shifts, Transitions, and Innovation- NIGD News & Notes Sept-Oct 2007

[Ruby van der Wekken]

Contention, Shifts, Transitions, and Innovation- NIGD News & Notes Sept-Oct 2007
In this issue:
I. Deceptive Development Cooperation  
II. The World Social Forum and the Global Left
III. The Universal Forum of Culture in Monterrey 2007  
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I. Deceptive Development Cooperation  
Lou Keune and Francine Mestrum
Current projects and programmes are no longer relevant, giving reason to
abandon current policy of development cooperation, and shift patterns of
thinking and acting. Lou Keune and Francine Mestrum question the
effects/benefits of the current hype in development programs, micro-credit.
Are rich countries taking more from the developing countries than we are giving?
http://www.nigd.org/nan/nan-doc-store/11-2007/deceptive-development-cooperation/

2. The Rise and Development of the Global Debt Movement: a North-South Dialogue
Yovana Reyes Tagle and Katarina Sehm Patomäki
Civil Society and Social Movements-paper No. 28, UNRISD, Geneva
This paper written by Yovana Reyes Tagle and Katarina Sehm Patomäki forms
part of UNRISD’s program on civil society movements. It explores the rise
and development of civil society around the debt problem. Despite the common
goal to find a solution to the debt problem of the global South, there
exists a North-South divide on the approach. Can we develop alternative
structures for the global economy?
http://www.unrisd.org/unrisd/website/document.nsf/(httpPublications)/2A35FE558DCA39A0C12572C9002F6D79?OpenDocument
  
3. UNCTAD, 54th session of the Trade and Development Board  
Francine Mestrum
The UNCTAD hearing with civil society and the private sector was held on 2
October 2007. Francine Mestrum provides the minutes and comments on the two
predominant topics from the session: the impact on regionalism on
development, and how to capture the benefits of globalisation.
http://www.nigd.org/nan/nan-doc-store/11-2007/unctad-54th-session-of-the-trade-and-development-board/
  

II. The World Social Forum and the Global Left
Boaventura de Sousa Santos
The WSF is unquestionably the first large international progressive
movement following the neo-liberal backlash of the early 1980s, and its
future is the future of trust in an alternative. Boaventura de Sousa Santos
examines the changes in the global left’s thinking over the past forty
years, and positions the WSF within this transition. The future of the WSF
depends both on the movements and organizations that comprise the WSF and
the metamorphoses of neo-liberal globalisation.  
http://www.nigd.org/nan/nan-doc-store/11-2007/the-world-social-forum-and-the-global-left/
  
2. Después el Fin de la Historia, Los Movimientos Sociales Latinoamericanos
de Hoy, Reflexiones Preliminares
Raphael Hoetmer
Latin America is currently experiencing a period of profound and continuous
change as a result of decades of innovation by social movements. Raphael
Hoetmer details the emergences of new social movements in Latin America in
through regional experiences and events (In Spanish).
http://www.nigd.org/nan/nan-doc-store/11-2007/despues-el-fin-de-la-historia-los-movimientos-sociales-latinoamericanos-de-hoy-reflexiones-preliminares-1/
  
3. The International Council Meeting of the WSF in Belem
Francine Mestrum and Ruby van der Wekken 
Reporting from the IC meeting in Belem, Brazil held 29 October to 1 November
2007, Francine Mestrum outlines the proceedings as well as describes the
character of the meeting. The WSF is at a turning point, changes to the
forum are possible and necessary; thus, the IC meeting has taken on a more
decisive nature. The Belem meeting showed an urgency to find a coherent
attitude towards the principles of the Forum, and to decide how political
the open space will be in the future.
http://www.nigd.org/nan/nan-doc-store/11-2007/the-wsf-ic-meeting-in-belem-2/


III. The Universal Forum of Culture in Monterrey 2007
Heikki Patomäki
The Universal Forum of Cultures is an eight weeks-long international
civil-society event, taking place from September to December 2007 in
Monterrey, Mexico. The Forum seeks to foster inter-cultural dialogue and
promote global civil society empowerment. Heikki Patomäki provides his
impressions of the forum from his participation in week 6 (30 October to 3
November 2007), themed, “Government, Participation, Human Rights and Justice”.
http://www.nigd.org/nan/nan-doc-store/11-2007/the-universal-forum-of-cultures-in-monterrey-2007-1/
  
2. NIGD-North America  
Jackie Smith and Marc Becker  
Scholars and scholar-practitioners working on themes of global democracy and
the World Social Forums have decided to form a North American chapter of
NIGD. Jackie Smith and Marc Becker introduce the founding idea behind the
desire to form a network to support engaged, pro-democracy, scholar-activism
in North America.
http://www.nigd.org/nan/nan-doc-store/11-2007/nigd-north-america/

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Dear NIGD Members and Friends, this is our NIGD News & Notes on Global
Democratization September-October 2007 issue. News & Notes is produced by
Robyn Milburn, with Ruby van der Wekken. On the News & Notes editorial board
sit Azril Bacal, Marc Becker, Francine Mestrum, Katarina Sehm-Patomäki, and
Teivo Teivainen. We welcome any comments or further questions from you at
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