The World Social Forum quickly became the largest political gathering in human history and continues to offer a direct challenge to the extreme inequities of corporate-led globalisation. It has expanded its presence and continues to be an exciting experiment in global and participatory democracy. The book's contributors have participated in World Social Forums around the globe. Recounting dozens of dramatic firsthand experiences, they draw on their knowledge of global politics to introduce the process, its foundations and relevance to ongoing transnational efforts toward democracy. This second edition of Global Democracy shows how the Forums have developed since their inception in 2001 and how they are now connected with other global movements including Occupy, the Arab Spring and beyond.

The World Social Forum quickly became the largest political gathering in human history and continues to offer a direct challenge to the extreme inequities of corporate-led globalization. It has expanded beyond a single event to spin-offs in a variety of countries including the United States. The forums are an experiment in global and participatory democracy, bringing together networks, organizations, and activists from around the world to create visions of a just and liberated global society. All of the authors involved in this book have participated in World Social Forums around the globe. Recounting dozens of dramatic firsthand experiences from their attendance, these authors draw on their knowledge of global politics to introduce the World Social Forum process, explain its foundations, and discuss its relevance to ongoing transnational efforts toward freedom, peace, and democracy. In the new edition, Global Democracy shows how the World Social Forums have grown and developed since their inception in 2001 and how they are now connected with other global movements including Occupy, the Arab Spring, and beyond.

Anti-globalization activism world-wide attests to the tensionsbetween globalization and civil society. To better understand thisfraught relationship, Dorval Brunelle compares two social ordersseparated by a half-century. The post-World War II order entailed abroad vision uniting three complementary objectives - security,justice, and welfare - which were entrusted to a network ofinternational and national institutions. In contrast, globalization,with wealth as its only objective, is undermining and overhauling thevalues and institutions of the previous order, including the UnitedNations and the welfare state. From World Order to Global Disorder demonstrates theprofound effect of globalization on relations between the state, civilsociety, and markets, as well as on collective and individual rights.As neo-liberalism evolves into globalization, governments are eschewingtheir role as public guardians and are instead bartering the veryassets and resources their citizens' labour and activism createdand preserved. However, no constitution makes governments owners ofcollective assets: governments are merely trustees. In this context,the world's citizens have a tremendous task before them: in thewake of the welfare state, their social forums are indispensable in thequest for a more just and equitable world.