[WSIS CS-Plenary] invitation to the Feminist Dialogue at the WSF

[libay linsangan cantor]

  Hello,

I hope you can forward this to your networks.  Thank you.

Regards,

Libay Linsangan Cantor
Media Info-Comm Campaigns Associate
("we!" news-co-ordinator)
Isis International Manila
http://www.isiswomen.org <http://www.isiswomen.org/>
<libay at isiswomen.org>

*
*

*Feminist Dialogue at the WSF now open for applications*


Everyone is invited to join the continuing spirit of women's movements 
interlinkages through the upcoming Feminist Dialogue (FD) meeting at the 
Word Social Forum 2005 in Porto Alegre, Brazil.


This transnational FD will take place a day before the WSF 2004 from 23 
to 25 January 2004. Interested people should submit their applications 
by 30 November 2004. We are reprinting a letter of invitation of the FD 
below.


-----



*Invitation to apply for participation in a transnational Feminist 
Dialogue, *

*23-25 January 2005, Porto Alegre, Brazil.*

Application Deadline: 30^th November 2004


Dear Friends,


Feminist activists around the world are facing intense backlash, and 
also renewed energy to mobilise. Ten years after Beijing, women are 
confronted by political-religious fundamentalisms, war and militarism, a 
shift from human rights to "war on terror," and an intensification of 
the neo-liberal agenda, including the privatisation of water! The 
setting of the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil in January 
2005 offers a strategic space for feminists to come together in their 
broad diversity to explore the current moment, our differences and 
common ground, and our role in larger social movements.


Feminist Dialogues (FD) is a two-day transnational meeting of feminist 
networks and organisations usually held before the World Social Forum is 
one such space for this kind of strategic dialogue. The FD organised by 
seven international feminist networks and organisations, aim to bring 
together different feminist perspectives on issues of concern for 
women's movements, to focus on critical analyses and diverse feminist 
strategies. We seek to emphasise the multiplicity of strategies that 
women's movements have employed in their everyday political practice. We 
see the FD as contributing to movement building within feminist 
networks, the women's movements and with other social movements.


The present Co-ordinating Group (CG) for the FD 2005 is currently made 
up of: Isis International (Manila), Development Alternatives for Women 
in a New Era (DAWN), INFORM (Sri Lanka), Women's International Coalition 
for Economic Justice (WICEJ), Articulacion Feminista de Mercosur (AFM - 
Latin America/Caribbean), African Women's Development and Communication 
Network, FEMNET (Africa), National Network of Autonomous Women's Groups 
(NNAWG - India). We hope that more networks provide input for this FD, 
and will join the co-ordinating group (CG) in 2006.

In having the meeting before the WSF, we hope to achieve a two-way 
political exchange: firstly, we hope to effectively intervene in the 
broader WSF process as feminists organising for change, and to establish 
strategic and politically relevant links with other social movements. As 
a site of resistance, the WSF is one of the most dynamic spaces 
available to us as feminist activists and it is important to participate 
in it while at the same time retaining our autonomy within the FD. We 
also are hopeful that the idea of the FD can be used to encourage 
various regional level meetings or to participate in the different 
forums we are engaged in as part of our ongoing work of linking up with 
other movements.


Through the FD we do not seek to come up with unified positions or 
perspectives. While a certain minimum consensus is necessary to maintain 
the cohesion of the meeting, we think that the value of meetings such as 
the FD lie in bringing forth debates and differences that provoke us to 
reflect, reassess and recast our analyses and strategies, collectively 
as well as individually. The FD can be a platform that strengthens our 
diversities as well as our common politics.


The first FD was held in Mumbai, India in January 2003, as a follow-up 
to the Women's Strategy Meeting held in Porto Alegre in 2002. It 
highlighted issues like women's human rights, sexual and reproductive 
rights, inter-linkages between the local and the global and sexuality. 
It was attended by over 150 women from different parts of the world.


Despite various shortcomings - particularly in methodology that made it 
difficult for the organisers to explore convergences and divergences- 
after the Mumbai FD, many groups showed keen interest in continuing with 
this process. In a three-day evaluation of the FD in Bangkok, Thailand 
in May 2004, the CG critiqued and reflected upon the event, agreed to 
improve on its methodology and political impact, and made a general 
re-commitment to the Feminist Dialogue process up to 2007.


The next FD will be held from 23 to 24 January 2005, in Porto Alegre, 
Brazil. Drawing from the various insights gained from the last meeting, 
it was decided that the focus of the Porto Alegre FD will be the 
intersections of militarisation and war, fundamentalism/s and 
neo-liberal globalisation. These will be explored from feminist 
perspectives that take into account race/ethnicity/caste, class, gender, 
sexualities and national origin. Concept notes on these and various 
other issues will be posted on the Feminist Dialogue website soon. We 
hope that a set of key questions will facilitate discussions on the 
themes of this year's Dialogue in your own localities, organisations and 
networks, which can then be posted onto the website or through a mailing 
list that we plan to set up. These discussions will allow for the 
inclusion of views, thoughts and questions of those who will not be able 
to participate in the FD in Porto Alegre.


Given that there was so much interest in the last FD, we have decided 
that the meeting should expand to allow more women to participate in it. 
Even so, in order to ensure a meaningful conversation that will help us 
move our discourse and actions towards focused possibilities, we have to 
limit the number of participants to 300. This means that there will 
still be a process of selection of participants. However, as the CG we 
would like the process of selection of participants to be as democratic 
and representative as possible.


In order to reach the widest range of strategically located individuals 
and groups, it was decided that there would be two levels of invitations 
to the FD. A total of 150 women will be directly invited to the event by 
the CG, while another 150 will be invited to submit applications to 
participate. Those who submit applications will be invited by the 
Selection Committee of the CG. The Selection Committee has formulated a 
set of basic criteria for all participants, to cover individual and 
collective participation to guarantee diversity and balance.


Accordingly, the individual criteria will include feminists who:


. self-define as feminists

. have had a history of work within women's movements and in pushing 
feminist analyses and actions in other social movements

. are interested in or have worked on specific FD issues and themes

. in general support the WSF framework and FD Concept Paper (2004), 
which includes a critique of neo-liberalism, fundamentalisms and 
anti-democratic practices and war (see 
<_www.feministdialogue.isiswomen.org>_ <http://www.xxxxxx/> to review 
2004 documents).

. seek to strengthen transnational feminist movements and to contribute to

movement-building

. support our working principles (from 2004, see 
<_www.feministdialogue.isiswomen.org>_ 
<http://www.feministdialogue.isiswomen.org/>)

    *

      are willing to prepare for the FD by thinking in advance about the
      themes and key questions, discussing concerns with your local
      networks, and are committed to fully participating in the full two
      days of the event.


The collective criteria includes:

. Regional Balance--representation of feminists from under-represented 
regions including West Asia, Central Asia, Pacific, Caribbean, Central 
America

. Representation of feminists from historically marginalised 
racial/ethnic/caste groups from each region (ie, Dalit, African 
Diaspora, Indigenous, Roma, etc.)

. Young feminists

. Lesbians, transgendered persons who espouse feminist values and are 
engaged in feminist analyses

. Issue balance (gender justice, economic justice, specific issues within

these categories from a feminist perspective).


All participants would be self-funded. We assume that there are some 
among you who will attend the WSF. A limited number of scholarships 
might be available depending on the success of our fundraising efforts. 
However, at this juncture there is no guarantee of any funds being 
available for travel/accommodation costs of participants. We anticipate 
simultaneous translation in English, Portuguese, French and Spanish.


If you think the FD is an interesting and challenging idea we invite you 
to complete and submit the attached application form by 30^th November 
2004. We will make every effort to notify applicants by the 1^st week of 
December about your participation. The selection of participants will be 
a consultative and collective exercise.


We will send out another posting regarding the website and more 
information available on the FD process shortly.


Yours sincerely,


Articulacion Feminista Mercosur (AFM)

National Network of Autonomous Women's Groups (NNAWG)

Development Alternatives for Women in a New Era (DAWN)

African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET)

INFORM

Isis International Manila

Women's International Coalition for Economic Justice (WICEJ)


NOTE:

For further information, or to post any questions regarding this 
process, please contact: Bina Srinivasan <binasr at eth.net> or to Susanna 
George <susanna at isiswomen.org <mailto:susanna at isiswomen.org>>.



Please fill out this application form with the needed information and 
submit back to INFORM at <inform at slt.lk <mailto:inform at slt.lk>> by 30 
November 2004.


APPLICATION FORM


Name:


Age:


Feminist activist/scholar/journalist/any other: (Please indicate in 
areas of work):


Languages known (please note primary language):


Organisation:


Region:


Address:


E-mail:


Are you planning to be at the WSF: yes/No


If yes, have you already secured funding for this purpose:


Any special skills:


Any special requirements (disabilities, diet):


Would you be able to volunteer at the FD? (minute-taking, co-ordinating 
some sessions, facilitating discussions, publicity, informal 
translations, media etc.,):


What do you see as the key feminist issues in your region?


What would you expect from the FD:


How do you see yourself as a feminist contributing to the FD as a 
political process and as a meeting?

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