You might not have noticed it, but between 60,000 and 100,000 delegates attended the World Social Forum (WSF) in Dakar, capital of Senegal, earlier this month. At the same time, of course, many thousands of people were demonstrating in Tahrir Square and elsewhere in Egypt, seeking to bring about an “alternative possible world”. Inevitably, these events overshadowed the WSF itself, although searching for that “alternative world” has been the Forum’s underlying theme its inauguration in Brazil almost a decade ago. The 2004 Mumbai WSF was the last of these annual gatherings to actively headline the impacts of mining. Nonetheless, mining-related sessions were conducted at the Forums held in Brazil, Venezuela, Kenya and Mali, between 2005 and 2010. And mineral extraction was on the WSF agenda again this year – as reflected in statements made by organisations from Sierra Leone and Mali.
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=10732.