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Rio+20 will be a strong political moment and a unique opportunity to “reinvent the world” by pointing to alternatives to the dangerous path in which we are currently ensnared. Nevertheless, judging from the actions of the hegemonic actors of the international system and from the mediocrity of international agreements negotiated in previous years, their false solutions, and the non-application of the principle already agreed upon at Rio 92, we understand that although we should not give up on our attempt to weigh upon their actions, neither should we feed illusions about our influence being strong enough to launch a virtuous circle of negotiations and meaningful compromises intended to deal with the serious problems that are threatening humankind and life on the planet. [1]

We believe that the necessary agenda for global democratic governance presupposes the end of the current situation, in which the multilateral arenas have been taken over by corporative interests. Change will inexorably require action by the greatest possible representation of social actors: a broad variety of networks, non-governmental organizations, and different kinds of social movements, including environmentalists, farmers and urban workers, women, youth networks, popular movements, indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities facing discrimination, solidarity economy networks, etc. We must build a new paradigm of social, economic, and political organizations, whose actions will be enhanced by learning from the experiences of the ongoing struggles in these sectors and from knowing that we already have the material and technological conditions to establish the new forms of production, consumption, and political organization that we need.

Contents

1. Ethical and Philosophical Foundations: Subjectivity, Domination, and Emancipation
Foundations for Biocivilization
Education in a World in Crisis
Knowledge, Science, and Technology

2. Human Rights, Peoples, Territories, and Defense of Mother Earth
Right to Land and Territory
Territories and Native Peoples
Sustainable Cities
For the Right to Water as a Common Good
Health Is a Universal Right, Not a Source of Profit

3. Production, Distribution, and Consumption: Access to Wealth, Common Goods, and Economies of Transition
Finance and a Fair and Sustainable Solidarity Economy
The Green Economy: A new Phase of Capitalist Expansion
Energy Transition Is Urgent and Possible

4. Political Subjects, Architecture of Power, and Democracy
The Commons: a Kaleidoscope of Social Practices for another Possible World
Civil Society Organizations and Social Movements
Governance and the Architecture of Power

[1] This Working Paper is a compilation of all the proposals taken from the texts produced by the Thematic Groups at the Thematic Social Forum of Porto Alegre (January 24-29, 2012). Bringing together the thematic groups under four core themes is a proposal for articulating the different themes. Some groups can of course be connected to two or more core themes.