Brief account of the 3rd International Feminists Dialogue/Bref Reportage sur la 3eme Edition Internationale du Dialogue des Feministes.

During the World Social Forum (WSF) 2007, as the world endeavored to 'make another world possible', over 250 women attending the 3rd International Feminist Dialogues (FD) engaged in intensive discourse on feminist perspectives and strategies in addressing fundamentalisms, militarism and neo-liberal globalization. Indeed, participants attending the FD reflected on critical ways in which feminist visions and actions are transforming democracy through attention to the structural political, economic and cultural underpinningsof patriarchal oppression. They also critically analyzed strategies through which women who have engaged in political processes--nationally, regionally and internationally, have continually given women greater voice and power in decision making as well as in changing democracy itself. Many diverse stories, strategies and visions that informed this analysis of democracy by transnational feminists were shared by women from different countries.

Evidently, it emerged that the contradictions and complexities of the workings of democracy are enormous in all regions, particularly when looked at through the lens of the militarism, fundamentalism and neoliberal globalization. Feminists working autonomously and in social justice movements need a sophisticated analysis as well as great courage to meet these challenges and overcome gender bias and oppression. Each region faces these challenges from different angles. For example participants spoke of widespread communal level political conflict in South Asia. In Latin America the emphasis was on organized crime where whole territories are dominated by drug dealers. In Africa it was clear that wars are rampant, and are linked to military expansionism and corruption. In Europe, key issues included strong xenophobic attitudes and increasing urban based violence among excluded and marginalized youth.

The growth of fundamentalisms (be they Christian, Muslim, Hindi or neoliberal) emerged as a strong point in all regions. One important point made was the ways in which women's dress and bodies were used by both religious and political conservatives to symbolize 'culture' in reactionary and 'ethnicentric' ways. Another dilemma raised by participants was how women themselves would collude in the violence against women in the name of culture and ethnicity.

All in all, the FD 2007 was far more than an event. It represented years of collective analysis and work, and specifically for the 2007 event an intense one year period of preparation, building on the earlier FDs and shaped by the interactions and engagements of many.

Day-to-day events

Debates on Day I began with proposals for democracy and citizenship by CG members based on a concept note "Feminist Perspective on Radical Democracy" which was prepared collectively by the FD Coordinating Group. The Concept brought together a range of feminist perspectives on re-conceptualizing the state, citizenship and democracy in the context of the processes of globalization and militarization and in the context of the growing strength of political forces...