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Midwest Social Forum Date:July 6-9, 2009Location:Milwaukee, Wisconsin Full Description:
What is the Midwest Social Forum?
The Midwest Social Forum (MWSF) is an annual gathering of grassroots organizations, community activists, educators, students, and others committed to making a better, more just world possible. The MWSF provides an open meeting place for exchanging experiences and information, strengthening alliances and networks, and developing effective strategies for progressive social, economic, and political change. The MWSF builds on both regional and global traditions and sources of inspiration. It has its origins in the Midwest Radical Scholars and Activists Conference, which was founded in 1983 by the Havens Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and later renamed RadFest in the late 1990s. In 2003, the title Midwest Social Forum was added, inspired by the World Social Forum and the similar principles on which it was established, most importantly its commitment to diversity, democracy, and politically non-sectarian dialogue and debate (see WSF Charter of Principles here). Reflecting its growing identification and connection with the broader Social Forum movement, in September 2005, the MWSF organizing committee decided to drop the name RadFest and go solely by the title Midwest Social Forum. The committee also decided to move the Forum to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in order to accommodate the Forumâ's accelerated growth and increasing logistical, programmatic, and other needs. The growth and expansion of the MWSF is illustrative of the growing importance of the Social Forum movement more generally, which has spread to the regional, national, and even local level in many parts of the world. The World Social Forum itself has increased from 20,000 participants in 2001 to 155,000 in 2005. Moreover, for the first time, in January 2006, a Social Forum of the Americas will be held in Caracas, Venezuela, and in 2007, a United States Social Forum will be held in Atlanta, Georgia. And the Midwest Social Forum is now poised to make yet another significant leap forward. Additional Information:Email: info@mwsocialforum.org Phone: 608.262.1420 or 608.262.0854 Address:
Areas of Focus:Democratic Culture (Liberty Tree), Global Democracy (Liberty Tree), Race and Democracy (Liberty Tree)Tags:User CommentsNo Comments.Please login at the top of the page or register as a Democracy Square member if you would like to comment. |
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~ Carl Schurz