Democratic Innovation in the U.S. and European Social Forums

Democratization is an ongoing, conflict-ridden process, resulting from contestation between social movements and political elites (Markoff 1996; Tilly 1984). The struggle to make elites more accountable to a larger public has produced the democratic institutions with which we are familiar, and it continues to shape and reconfigure these institutions. It also transforms the individuals and organizations involved in social change, generating social movement cultures, norms and practices that evolve over time. In this chapter, we conceptualize the World Social Forum (WSF) process as part of a larger historical struggle over people’s right to participate in decisions that affect their lives. We examine the democratic practices and norms developed in the US and European Social Forum processes