Volume 29.2 June 2005 409–16 International Journal of Urban and Regional Research © Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2005. Published by Blackwell Publishing. 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main St, Malden, MA 02148, USA Blackwell Publishing Ltd.Oxford, UK and Malden, USAIJURInternational Journal of Urban and Regional Research0309-13172005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.June 200529240916 Debates and DevelopmentsDebates and DevelopmentsDebate DEBATES AND DEVELOPMENTS Introduction to a Debate on the World Social Forum AHMED ALLAHWALA and ROGER KEIL The Fifth World Social Forum in Porto Alegre 2005 The fifth World Social Forum took place in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from 26–31 January 2005. After a one-year absence — when the Forum migrated to Mumbai, India — the original host city of the event in the southern State of Rio Grande do Sul, welcomed the more than one hundred and fifty thousand participants of the world’s most global alternative political event back. Staged simultaneously with the World Economic Forum, the elite gathering in the Swiss Alps, the WSF has become the major focus of worldwide coordination of all kinds of anti-systemic activities at all scales, in urban and rural contexts, and (potentially) of all cultures from around the globe. Delegates from 120 countries participated in more than 400 cultural events and hundreds of more or less formal meetings. One newspaper estimated the number of marchers in the opening demonstration that filled the streets of Porto Alegre for hours at 200,000 (O Correio do Povo, 27 January 2005: 1). Forum participants attended panels with some of the most well-known progressive public intellectuals from all corners of the world; and they listened to and debated with each other. Individual events range from the spectacular — the opening demonstrations, the mass meetings, the stars — to the sublime — the small conferences, the chance encounters, the music. Participants are predominantly from Latin America, most of them Brazilians. There is the perennial regret that there is little mass participation from the poor countries of the world, with Africa most notably underrepresented, a major political issue to be addressed, among other things, by potentially moving the Forum there in 2007 (see Bond below). The actual event was organized into eleven overlapping theme areas, each running dozens of workshops and major events simultaneously in a dizzying display of variety (see Figure 1). The character of these events is as diverse as the topics covered and groups represented. From serious academic debate, roundtable conversation, political organizing and new-age spirituality one finds something for everyone’s taste of intellectual, emotional and spiritual appetites. For the four events in Porto Alegre, the Brazilian organizational structure on the ground has been indispensable. Some of the main movements behind the organization of the WSF in Brazil are the CUT (Central Única dos Trabalhadores), Articulação Feminista Mercosul, Via Campesina, MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra), Economía Solidaria, and the World March of Women. Yet, the phenomenon of the Social Forum cannot be reduced anymore to the annual World Social Forum meetings. Instead there is a proliferation of the Social Forum on a multitude of scales (urban, national, continental). The Social Forum is now more understood as a process and not one single event with the annual World Social Forum fulfilling the crucial role of being a point of coalescence, debate and coordination. Our