Dismantling Transnational Corporations: Day 3 At the World Social Forum

TUNIS, Tunisia—Energy has been running high in Tunis this week, partly because the city is still reeling from the February assassination of the country’s lead social and political opposition figure, Chokri Belaid. On Thursday night, a thousand people gathered on the central Avenue Habib Bourguiba – site of the Tunisian Revolution, which began the Arab Spring – to rally in remembrance of the man many called the “Arab Chavez” for the hope he represented in leading the country toward genuine democracy.

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World Social Forum, Day 2: Debt, Unions and Corporate Tax Avoidance

It’s not easy figuring out which of the 350 or so daily panels to attend at the World Social Forum this week in Tunis. Human rights, women’s freedoms, immigration conflicts, agriculture policy—the list runs the gamut. Sometimes you just want to drink a coffee and stand in one of the crowded sunny plazas at El Manar University, where the global gathering is in full swing, and meet some of the tens of thousands who have shown up to exchange ideas, advance projects and get inspired.

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