A Place in Europe: on wealth inequality and the role of art in society at Stockholm School of Economics

“Is a person’s destitution a result of individual or societal failure?” - Art has a crucial role at SSE, leading us to reflect empathetically on the global challenges of contemporary times. A Place in Europe circles around scarcity, despair, belonging and migration and I´m glad that both our students and the pedestrians on Sveavägen gets a chance to experience and ponder it. It raises questions some of our researchers try to answer, says Lars Strannegård, President of Stockholm School of Economics. To continue the discussion, SSE is arranging a seminar about wealth inequality and the role of art in democracy on January 22, 2020. 16 – 17.30 in room Ragnar. The artists of A Place in Europe and SSE researcher Jesper Roine will be in conversation with Stefan Jonsson, a professor of ethnicity from Linköping University. Open for all. Cecilia Parsberg's introduction What does a passerby see? In front of Stockholm School of Economics mighty portal, designed by Ivar Tengbom (1920) stands a house in golden brass. But it has overturned. The underside shows a film, the passerby comes closer. It is a film of a person's existence that overturns. Thomas speaks to us, not only for himself, he is also a spokesperson for some fifty people whose sleeping places are evicted while we are watching. People from within and outside Europe who today move within EU's borders through the free movement and look for jobs, live here temporary in this place in central Stockholm. A state of exception seems to be in effect at this place. Thomas is not an EU citizen because only the citizens of the member states can obtain the legal status. He is called "Third-country Citizen". It is the term that is most widely accepted. It is used both legally and in EU jargon. He has the legal right to stay in Europe and use the free movement. He has a Swedish number and may work legally in Sweden.[1] There were about ten sections under the loading dock, four of them were used as sleeping places, Thomas tells tha