World Social Forum – Dakar 2011

This is the second in a series of reflections on events in Dakar, Senegal, Feb 6-11, 2011. For the first reflection see below.  A third will follow.

  On the web site of the World Social Forum there is a short commentary by Chico Whitaker, one of the founders of the Forum, indicating that the 2011 session in Dakar would probably not be the largest—there were 150,000 in Brazil at the last one—but that it would be no less significant.

  His prediction is borne out. The mix of Africans from many different countries though for obvious reasons especially from Senegal and the other countries of West Africa, was very good. There were also lots of people from Europe and a good representation from Latin America, especially Brazil. Still the march was much smaller than earlier editions of the Forum and the participation in the workshops appears to have been smaller. This latter is hard to judge because the Forum was held at the university while it was in full session. It was often difficult to know who was there for their university classes and who was at the forum.

  This leads to a second prior observation: the whole event was very badly organized, chaotic in fact. Many of the workshops had to be held in tents hastily set up to provide space. In itself that was no great problem since the weather in Dakar is nothing less than spectacular: sun, sun and sun. Nevertheless, no one knew where anything was taking place the first day and the confusion, unfortunately, continued throughout the week. It was even difficult to find out where to register, and once there, to actually follow the procedure. Many people just attended all the events without registered since there was no control.

  Our little delegation from Montreal was primarily geared to the World Forum on Theology and Liberation which was taking place at the same time and within the context of the WSF. However, because of the difficulty of knowing what happening and where, we found ourselves confined in large measure to our own events.

  Nevertheless, I would like to comment on a few special moments for me.

  First of all, I attended a workshop that dealt with the problem of refugees to Europe. As you know, Europe has all but closed its doors to Africans seeking either refuge in Europe or even just as immigrants. (Canada is not lagging far beyond on this score!) We were able to hear from several of those who had lived in Europe with the accompaniment of NGOs there before being deported back to Africa. What was new to me was the way in which the European NGOs had kept in touch with these deported people and supported them in their efforts to readjust back into their homelands after the traumatic experience of deportation. As far as I know this is not something that we have done here and it bears investigation. With time, some of these people can and do become major figures in the struggle for “another world that is possible” in their own lands.

  One of the experiences that was described was the “Caravan,” a travelling group that passed throughout Senegal stopping in populated areas to raise peoples’ awareness of the problem of refugees who have been deported back to Senegal. They also went to the border with Mali and spoke with refugees who were still there. It was a project that revealed the intensity of the effort to establish coordination in the struggle for survival in Senegal.

  A second workshop occurred on the last day. It was organized by several groups, among them Secour chrétien in France. The focus was on the relationship between Europe (especially France) and Africa. The topic was how to stop the political, economic and military power of  African dictators. In the context of the struggles going on in North Africa, the Middle East and potentially in several other areas, the theme went to the heart of this moment. The situation of neo-colonialism in the relationship between Europe and Africa was clearly laid out, the issues identified and, most interestingly a number of projects and movements to effect change were brought forward. To my mind, one of the most telling interventions came from someone during the open mike period. He was a Tunisian leader who spoke eloquently of the struggle that had led to the fall of the government in Tunisia. However, he added, the real dictators that humiliate and hold us back are not in Africa. We have done our work and now you have to do yours. He invited us to consider getting rid of those real dictators, the heads of state of European governments who manipulate the economy and politics of Africa. He referred very specifically to the president of France. It made me think of the challenge to face a change of political direction here in our own land.

  As you may or may not know, Senegal is 95% Muslim with only 3 or 4 % Christians – including all labels. As a result I was particularly interested in hearing from Muslim thinkers and discovering the relationship between these two communities there. Participation in several workshops of the theology forum provided that context. The first thing to say is that the Muslim presence was very slim and often the best interventions came quite spontaneously from people who happened to drop in on a workshop. Also, since the Christians are a tiny minority and the Muslim presence is very strong, they do feel that their future is threatened. This is not because of any religious fanaticism but because of factors that many of us Catholics will easily recognise from our own practices in the past. When a young girl wants to marry a Muslim there is pressure for her to become Muslim. The children will then also be raised as Muslim. If a Catholic boy wants to marry a Muslim girl, there will be pressure for her to remain Muslim and to some extent also for him to become Muslim. This gradual eating away at the Christian population disturbs the leaders.

  Secondly, liberation theology and theology of religious pluralism has very little roots in Christian thinking at least as far as was evidenced in our experience in Dakar. The Christians have a tendency to formulate their world—quite beautifully it must be said—in terms of the Gospel and biblical values. But those I spoke with seemed unaware of the dynamic that took place when they attempted to deal with more mundane issues of life in society with Muslims. In fact, from the little I heard, they seemed to handle it very well, but without any self-awareness of how that worked. We were told that generally the relationship between Christians and Muslims in Senegal is extremely good. People accept to co-exist in society together and work together for the good. Many families are made up of members from both religious traditions. Sometimes brothers and sisters share different traditions. All the above is generally accepted as part of the life in which no major tensions exist about those religious borders. Moreover it seems that the Senegalese people, on the whole extremely poor, are deeply committed to democratic life and the electoral process. (The President was quite unhappy with our presence in his capital and said so in no uncertain terms. It is very likely he and his party will be defeated in upcoming elections if one is to judge by the comments of many I heard from.) It is something to watch for in 2012.

For a final statement, please see: http://www.dakar2011.org/spip.php?article51