All Blacks of Davos vs All Greens of Porto Alegre: reframing global strategic discord through polyphony?

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Reflection inspired by the Maori haka and the choral possibilities of an encounter between the All Blacks of Davos and the All Greens of Porto Alegre -- on the occasion of the simultaneous annual meetings of the World Economic Forum and the World Social Forum

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Introduction

Both the World Economic Forum (of Davos) and the World Social Forum (of Porto Alegre) continue to meet annually to the great satisfaction of their participants and their constituencies. Both gather in other regions of the world throughout the year. Each is understood to provide a major opportunity for strategic articulation and networking for their participants. Their views are of course intrinsically opposed. To the extent that there is any coherence to their respective views, each is perceived by the other as totally misguided. Each may be understood as the shadow of the other, holding to values that the other denies or abhors.

The possibility, briefly explored here, is whether such a discordant relationship in a world in turmoil could be reframed within a different context, specifically one that benefits from the universal appeal of harmony and the potential of polyphony. Might musical values offer a means of interweaving such otherwise discordant insights?

This builds on the substantiating arguments and precedents presented in greater detail in an earlier exploration (A Singable Earth Charter, EU Constitution or Global Ethic? 2006).