Discussion on the Road to the Next US Social Forum

Organizers of the US Social Forums in Atlanta (2007) and Detroit (2010) invite you
Join us to help build the road to the next US Social Forum!
National Plenary & Peoples Movement Assembly Kit

The Urgency of this Moment

We live day to day in crisis and struggle. For the first time in history we are experiencing a rapidly deepening crisis of global capitalism affecting millions in the United States and billions world-wide – producing austerity policies and massive permanent unemployment and poverty, unimaginable climate, ecological and social destruction, and intensifying political attacks, repression, and the threat of fascism and war everywhere. At the same time, resistance, activism and organizing are on the rise across all continents, sectors, and fronts of struggle.

This moment requires a huge and unified social movement in the U.S. with millions of politically conscious people to ensure victory for the arising social motion in the interests of the oppressed, exploited, and dispossessed – to protect the earth and affirm life. The US Social Forum can play a role in pushing forward strategic US movement development through the dynamic interrelation of local and regional struggles, and the emergence of a national movement in relation to global movements. The US Social Forum process is striving to step up and take its place in history by advancing the interests of working class, low-income, and grassroots struggles. The moment is urgent and the opportunities are great.

To advance our struggle for shared understanding, political unity, and participation on the road to US movement building and USSF III, we invite you to read and discuss the US Social Forum political framing documents in your organizations, networks, and collectives.

An Invitation to Dialogue and Convergence

As we continue our national conversation responding to the deep economic, environmental, and social crises that people around the United States and the world are experiencing, we invite you to come together in your community to reflect on and provide feedback on questions that will shape the organizing of the next US Social Forum.

During the weekend of March 8-10, members of the US Social Forum's National Planning Committee, along with other leaders from grassroots movements around the U.S., will meet in Philadelphia to discuss the road to the next US Social Forum. We want to hear from you! A national plenary session will take place on Friday, March 8 between 7 and 9PM (Eastern), and we invite you to view this session online, either livestreamed during the plenary. Recordings of the plenary will be available after. The plenary will highlight International Women’s Day, the urgency of the current political moment, and will help frame a national conversation about how to build our movements to take on the new challenges of climate change, debt, unemployment, and budget cuts. Work over the weekend and beyond will help shape the planning for the road to the next US Social Forum, and discussions will also guide the work of US Social Forum delegates at the World Social Forum in Tunis March 26-30.

We are also encouraging activists to help shape our planning for the USSF and invite you to organize a local People’s Movement Assembly of people in your community who want to build a national movement to make another world possible. Consider the following questions in your discussion, and go to the USSF website to send your group’s responses to these questions. During the weekend of March 8-10, we’ll review all the communications we receive and bring them into the discussions in Philadelphia. We’ll continue to integrate your feedback as we move forward towards the next US Social Forum. More details will be provided, and you can find updates at: http://www.ussocialforum.net/

Steps to organize local discussions/meetings on the Road to USSF-3

1. Review the World Social Forum Charter of Principles and other statements that guide our work as part of the social forum process.
2. Plan to watch (as a group or individually) the national plenary in Philadelphia on Friday, March 8, 7-9pm Eastern. The stream will available during the meeting and recordings of the meeting will published after.
3. Following the plenary, decide upon a time to meet during the week-end of March 8-10, or shortly thereafter for an hour or more. OR
4. Even if you are not able to view the plenary, please consider gathering in your local community for a political discussion and share your input with us as indicated below.
5. Use the questions below to guide your discussion. Be sure to think about how your group and others in your community would want to use the US Social Forum to help build upon the work you are doing and expand your connections with others around the country.
6. Select a note-taker to document the discussion;
7. Send your group’s notes to us through our website or email: info@ussocialforum.net

Questions for Discussion

1. Our country and world are seeing major disruptions from climate change, financial collapse, unemployment, and related problems. Political leaders have been unable or unwilling to respond to these challenges in ways that address the needs of people and communities. What does this deep crisis of our political and economic system mean for our work for a better world?
   What does it mean that capitalism as a system is in deep crisis and transition? What does it mean for our work, our struggle?
2. The World Social Forum and US Social Forum are meant as tools to help movements come together across different issues and locales. How can we make the social forum more effective at helping groups overcome local and issue-based divisions so we can build our collective power to advance social change?
   How can the social forum process be a tool to support our work and unite our struggles into a powerful force with shared vision and shared political purpose for social change?
3. Given the urgency of the crises we face and the opportunities to come together in the social forums, how should we adapt the work we are doing locally to build unity across different sectors and movements? What new strategies do we need to avoid further suffering and disruption in our communities? Are there ways we can organize in advance of the next US Social Forum to build our local and national movements for justice?
   What does this mean for how we work together – in our communities, in our work, in our struggles?
4. How can the organizers of the US Social Forum structure the process so that we can more readily use it to strengthen our local capacities to better people’s lives and advance our shared goals?
   How does the USSF strengthen local capacity to improve social conditions and social struggle?
5. For a long time, our movements have called on people to “fight back,” to wage a defensive struggle. But we’re realizing that the political system we face has neither the capacity nor the will to respond to our demands. We need to take a new approach that is more pro-active. What needs to change to move us from defensive to offensive strategies? How would this affect our day to day work? How might we re-think our short term and long-term goals and how to connect them?
   What does it mean for our movement to go from defensive struggles to the offensive? What would this look like day to day, connecting short term goals with long term goals and visions?
6. Discussions about the US and World Social Forum have suggested that we need a “social forum of a new type.” This is in recognition of the fact that our communities lack the resources to travel to distant forums at the same time as every day brings ever more urgent crises to our communities. How might we re-think the way we organize the US social forum to enable more participation from those most impacted by economic crisis and social exclusion? How might we improve it as a tool for building networks of mutual support and collaboration as we try to build our collective power to make a better world?