University of California-Riverside    Research Working Group on Transnational Social Movements

v. final

We are collecting this survey of participants in the 2005 World Social Forum in order to learn more about the characteristics of people that participate in the Forum and their perceptions and beliefs about the relations among the participating social movements. We want to facilitate cooperation and concerted action by helping activists to understand the interconnections between different progressive movements. We appreciate you taking the time to complete this survey. Please return it to the person who gave it to you when you are finished. Thank you.

 

I. Demographics:

 

(1) What is your gender? Check one.

oFemale       oMale          oOther: _____________________________________________

 

(2) What is your age? Check one.

o11 or under                      o12-14        o15-17        o18-25        o26-35        o36-45       

o46-55                   o56-65        o66-70        o71 and above

 

(3) What is your race or ethnicity? Please write in.  ____________________________________

 

(4) In what country or countries do you have legal citizenship? ___________________________

 

(5) Where do you currently live?

City _____________________          Country _________________________

 

(6) Please CHECK all the languages you speak and CIRCLE your primary language.

oArabic       oBengali       oChinese      oEnglish      oFrench       oGerman oHindi/Urdu      oJapanese           oPortuguese oRussian      oSpanish      oTagalog

oOther: Please specify______________________________________________

 

(7) What is your current occupation? _______________________________________________

 

(8) What is your approximate current annual household income? ________________________

           (a) What is the currency? ­­­­­___________________________________________________

 

(9) Beginning with primary school, how many years of school have you completed? Check one.

oNone         o1-5            o6-10          o11-15        o16 or more

 

 

 

(10) What is your most advanced formal educational degree? ____________________________

(a) In what subject is that degree? Check one.

oNatural Sciences    o Social Sciences    oArts/Humanities     oTechnology

 

(11) Are you currently a student? Check one.           oNo  oYes

           (a) If yes, what are you studying? ____________________________________________

 

(12) Do you have access to the Internet? Check one. oNo oYes

           (a) If yes, where?       o Home       oWork         oOther ______________________

 

II. Strategies:

 

(1) Do you think we need to reform capitalism or abolish it? Check one.

oReform it   oAbolish it and replace with a better system

 

(2) Which of the following approaches would best solve the problems created by global capitalism?

oStrengthen the power of local communities         oStrengthen the power of nation states      

oCreate democratically-run global institutions

 

(3) In the long run, what do you think should be done about the existing international financial and trade institutions such as the IMF and the WTO? Check one.

oNegotiate with them          oAbolish them

oAbolish and replace them with democratically-run international institutions

 

(4) Do you think it is a good or bad idea to have a democratic world government? Check one.

oGood idea, and it’s plausible         oGood idea, but not plausible          oBad idea

 

(5) Please rate your opinion on the following statement: "Overall the world needs less economic growth." Check one.

oStrongly agree       oAgree        oMildly agree         

oMildly disagree      oDisagree    oStrongly disagree

 

(6) Please rate your opinion on the following statement: "The World Social Forum should remain as an open space for debate and should not itself take public positions on political issues." Check one.

oStrongly agree       oAgree        oMildly agree         

oMildly disagree      oDisagree    oStrongly disagree

 

 

 

 (7) Which groups, if any, do you think are underrepresented at the World Social Forum?

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

(8) What suggestion, if any, would you make to improve the World Social Forum?

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

III. World Social Forum Participation:

 

(1) In what year did you first participate in a public demonstration or protest? ______________

 

(2) In how many public protests or demonstrations did you participate in the last 12 months?

o 0              o1               o2-4            o5 or more

 

(3) Which of the prior World Social Forums have you attended? Check all that apply.        

o2001          o2002          o2003          o2004          oNone

 

(4) Have you attended any of the regional social forums? oNo      oYes

(a) If yes, please list which ones: _____________________________________________

 

(5) What are your reasons for attending the World Social Forum? Check all that apply.      

oOrganize    oNetwork    oLearn about the issues       oResearch    oWork

oOther: _____________________________________________________________________

 

(6) Before arriving at the 2005 World Social Forum, did you have personal friends based in countries other than your country of residence? oNo       oYes

           (a) If yes, where? _________________________________________________________

 

(7) Which of the following types of organizations are you affiliated with? Check all that apply.

oLabor union(s)                 oPolitical party(ies)      oNon-governmental organization(s)

oGovernment agency(ies)   oSocial movement or political organizations  oOther:_____________________________________________________________________

 

(a) Are any of these organizations funded solely by its members? oNo      oYes

 

(b) Do any of these organizations receive funding from foundations?  oNo   oYes

 

(8) Are you attending this forum on behalf of an organized group(s)? oNo oYes

(a) If yes, which type(s)? Check all that apply.

oLabor union(s)      oPolitical party(ies)      oNon-governmental organization(s)

oGovernment agency(ies)   oSocial movement or political organizations  oOther:________________________________________________________________

 

(b) Are any of these organizations funded solely by its members? oNo     oYes

 

(c) Do any of these organizations receive funding from foundations?  oNo   oYes

 

(9) Are you planning to report on your experiences at the World Social Forum to a group or organization back home or elsewhere? oNo  oYes

(a) If yes, which type(s)? Check all that apply.

oLabor union(s)      oPolitical party(ies)      oNon-governmental organization(s)

oGovernment agency(ies)   oSocial movement or political organizations  oOther:________________________________________________________________

 

(10) How did you fund your trip to the World Social Forum? Check all that apply.

oTravel funds from work    oFunds from a political organization           oPersonal funds oSponsorship from a business firm                      oTravel funds from an educational institution

oFamily       oFriends      oOther: _____________________________________________  

 

(11) Are you a formal member or representative on any of the WSF committees? oNo    oYes (a) If yes, which? _________________________________________________________

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          

          

 

IV. Movement Identification and Contradictions:

 

(1) Check all of the following movements with which you:

(a) strongly identify:                                               (b) are actively involved in:

oAlternative media/culture                                                      oAlternative media/culture

oAnarchist                                                                               oAnarchist

oAnti-corporate                                                                       oAnti-corporate

oAnti-globalization                                                                  oAnti-globalization

oAlternative Globalization/Global Justice                              oAlternative Globalization/Global Justice

oHuman Rights/Antiracism                                                     oHuman Rights/Antiracism

oCommunist                                                                            oCommunist

oEnvironmental                                                                       oEnvironmental

oFair Trade/Trade Justice                                                        oFair Trade/Trade Justice

oGay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer Rights                 oGay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer Rights  

oHealth/HIV                                                                            oHealth/HIV

oIndigenous                                                                             oIndigenous

oLabor                                                                                     oLabor

oNational Sovereignty/National Liberation                             oNational Sovereignty/National Liberation

oPeace/Anti-war                                                                      oPeace/Anti-war

oFood Rights/Slow Food                                                         oFood Rights/Slow Food

oSocialist                                                                                 oSocialist

oWomen's/Feminist                                                                 oWomen's/Feminist

oOther(s), Please list _______________________                oOther(s), Please list _______________________

 

(2a) Of the movements listed above, name the two or three pairs (e.g. environmental-labor) that have the most important contradictions between their goals and/or interests. For each of these contradictory pairs please write a short phrase that refers to the main issues.

Contradictory Pair                            Main Issue(s)              

 

_______________________              ________________________________________________

 

_______________________              ________________________________________________

 

_______________________              ________________________________________________

 

(b) How might these contradictions be resolved? ______________________________________

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

(3) Of the movements listed above, which have the biggest within-movement contradictions? Please write short phrase(s) describing these contradictions.

 

Movements that have major

internal contractions                                    Main issue(s)              

 

_______________________              ________________________________________________

 

_______________________              ________________________________________________

 

_______________________              ________________________________________________

 

(4) How might actual or potential contradictions between the environmental movements and the labor movements be resolved? _____________________________________________________

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

(5) How might actual or potential contradictions between the labor movements in the developed countries and the labor movements of the less developed countries be resolved? _____________

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

 

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We appreciate you taking the time to complete this survey. Please return it to the person who gave it to you when you are finished. Thank you.

 

Or to send the completed survey:

Institute for Research on World-Systems

RE: Research Working Group on Transnational Social Movements

College Building South

University of California-Riverside

Riverside, CA. 92521

USA

Spanish version is at http://irows.ucr.edu/research/tsmstudy/spanver.htm

Portuguese version is at http://irows.ucr.edu/research/tsmstudy/portver.htm