If even this fast-paced, commerce-obsessed
city can be convinced to pause for a moment and consider something new,
that will be a major victory. After all, the hardy activists converging at
the WSF may want to go beyond just preaching to the converted.
Why Mumbai ? It is a question on many
minds this week. Not, why does Mumbai exist ? Or, what makes Mumbai
run ? But rather, why Mumbai as the location for the World Social
Forum (WSF) ?
On the gritty surface, I cannot think of a
more inappropriate venue for the event. Mumbai is the most
hyper-capitalist, fast-paced city in India, and in fact, much of South
Asia. It is a grimier version of the "Bladerunner" megapolis, only with
fewer skyscrapers and no replicants in sight. The World Social Forum, by
contrast, is an annual gathering of NGOs, progressive activists, and
campaigners against neo-empire. WSF was originally set up to create
sustainable development through people-centered and self-reliant progress,
as opposed to neo-liberal globalization. In particular, it was set up as
an alternative to the Davos World Economic Forum, IMF, World Bank and the
WTO. WSF is not anti-globalization (as critics would say), but rather it
is for more sustainable and humane globalization. It stands for
Participatory Economics (Michael Albert's "Parecon"), not Exploitative
Business. Logically, any city can host and benefit from this event. But a
city where hotel rooms can run as high as $100 a night seems an odd host
for the 2004 meet.
Agressive capitalist adds everywhere
- Mumbai is a
sprawling city and traffic is the spider-web at its center. To get from
Point A to B can take upwards of two hours. During that journey, I have a
lot of time to take in the surroundings. There are some very obvious signs
of Transnational Corporations' (TNC) deep reach into the city's commerce
center. From Sansui ("Born in Japan") to Phillips, HSBC to Citibank, Gold
Flake to Nescafe ("Jagao, Pilao") — all the big international brands are
competiting for billboard space. Alongside them, and complicating the
narrative of "rapacious" TNCs, are hundreds of Indian brands. The list is
endless : Orange Cell ("Roam Like Home"), Tata, Four Square Cigarette
("Bombay's #1 brand"), Birla ("Whitest White Cement"), and Style Spa. In a
city that is the stronghold of the right-wing Shiv Sena, there are also
some business signs proclaiming secular unity. There is "Maharashtra Haj
Committee Welcomes Haj Pilgrims", an airline ad that forms the peace
symbol and BPL cell phone ads that feature conspicuously Muslim (topi,
beard) and Hindu men (tilak) together.
A business-obsessed city
- Most fascinating of all
is the crazy jigsaw of small entrepreneurs. Similar to Hernando De Soto's
"Other Path" parallel economies, there are hundreds of small businesses
mushrooming on the roadside. There are Kebab Corners (usually run by
Muslims) that also sell Chinese food and have a poster of Subhas Bose as
their mascot, bathroom fitting stores that call themselves "Wet Concepts,"
Hotel Babul that sternly warns "Liquor, etc. not allowed," and everywhere
are tiny shacks and shops selling Internet, ISD, STD, Fax, Copy, Color
Copy, Photo - all under one roof. The most unusual sight was the bread van
I passed early in the morning. This was the same three-wheel van I
remember from my Dhaka youth, but in the Mumbai 2004 version, the bright
sign proclaims : "Mother's Pride ™" and then offers a plethora of
non-bread products : Chokki Ata, Pure Ghee, Spices, Papad, Basmati
Rice, Pickles, Pulses, and Besan. And for those in a rush, the side of the
van also offers "Online Shopping : emotherspride.com". Whether anyone
would ever buy 40 Rupees of spices off the Internet is a different
question, but some fanatical entrepreneurial zeal clearly runs through the
Mumbai heartline.
Will the city notice the event ?
- So what
does business-obsessed Mumbai think of the WSF ? For the most part,
the city seems oblivious to this major event. For one thing, the WSF is
being held in Goregaon, which is on the edge of the city. For another, the
city is currently abuzz with Salman Rushdie sightings. Everywhere he goes
on his first trip back in a decade, shopping, partying, canoodling, there
are sightings of girlfriend Padma Lakshmi to report back on. Then there is
Rekha inaugurating the Femina Bridal Show, Jane Fonda performing The
Vagina Monologues and the war-glorifying, big-budget blockbuster "LOC
Kargill". On the political front, there are big splashy announcements of
the Bush-Vajpayee agreement on sharing of nuclear/space technology. And in
case I get lulled into dreams of secular utopia, the Maharashtra
government just announced a ban on James Laine's book "Shivaji :
Hindu King in Islamic India." All this front-page news has meant that the
WSF events have been pushed back to the Metro section, in a page
incongruously called "Spicy City." Unlike Porto Alegre or Florence, Bombay
is a huge city and it is possible for a major event with thousands of
delegates to take place without causing much of a ripple. All this may
change once the event starts on the 16th, but for now the average
man-on-the-street's response may well be, "Conference, what
conference ?"
The choice of Mumbai
- Mumbai was chosen as the
location through a complicated series of internal negotiations. For a few
years, activists have been pointing out that the WSF can hardly claim
"World" in its title if it keeps being held in Brazil and Europe. Asia and
Africa needed to be represented, and soon. As a nation that already has
serious designs on a UN Security Council Seat, and now, through the
Bush-Vajpayee détente, may emerge as the second player after Israel in the
US security axis, India is already an emerging superpower. Although the
WSF participants don't necessarily cheer on some of these other
developments, India's international clout very easily translated to the
WSF location negotiations. Trivandaram in Kerala and Kolkata in West
Bengal were more logical choices, since both have leftist governments that
are more sympathetic to the WSF. But a complicated set of issues,
including logistics and possible rivalry between the two cities made
Mumbai the ultimate choice.
Mumbai is an odd choice, but in the end it may
not be a bad one. The juxtaposition of Mumbai's aggressive capitalism
against WSF's people-centered globalization is jarring. It would certainly
make more sense to have the event in a city that is a showcase for the
alternative economic models WSF espouses. At the same time, there is a
more interesting challenge at Mumbai WSF '04. If even this fast-paced,
commerce-obsessed city can be convinced to pause for a moment and consider
something new, that will be a major victory. After all, the hardy
activists converging at the WSF may want to go beyond just preaching to
the converted.
Naeem Mohaiemen Originally published on subcontinental.org, January 14, 2004
