Many argue that globalization widely increases disparities within societies by lavishly rewarding the successful while leaving others behind. Others argue that a truly global city is judged on how it chooses to spend its wealth and whether it ensures equal opportunity for all of its citizens.
Join The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Museum of Contemporary Photography for a reception in the museum's gallery where guests can view the Edge of Intent exhibit, and then participate in a dynamic discussion with guest speakers Simon Menner and Saskia Sassen as they address the social responsibilities and new visions of global cities. Edge of Intent is an exhibition that looks at the utopian aspirations of urban planners, and at how their idealistic visions sometimes become static and incapable of adapting to changing environments and systems.
Simon Menner, a German photographer, developed a series called Metacity, which records the informal structures of the homeless in the cities of Bombay, Chicago, and Paris while asking whether or not there exist connecting elements to this kind of poverty in different cities around the globe. Menner isn't as interested in documenting the homeless existing in the classic slums of third world countries, but more in the single homeless person and how they inhabit the modern city.
Saskia Sassen is the Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University. She has received numerous awards for her extensive research, writing, and teaching on globalization and global cities, and is the author of The Global City (1991), Cities in a World Economy (2006), A Sociology of Globalization (2007), and Territory, Authority, Rights (2008). >This program is co-sponsored by the Goethe Institute Chicago.
Program Schedule:
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Hors d’Oeuvres, Wine Reception, and Gallery Viewing
6:30 - 7:45 p.m. Presentation and Discussion
This program was offered on these dates:
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:30pm to 7:45pm
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Cost: $20, Members; $30 non-members; Space is Limited. Registration is required.
Website: http://www.thechicagocouncil.org/chicago_council_event_corporate_detail.php?eventid=2065
Location:
Museum of Contempory Photography at Columbia College
600 S. Michigan Aveue
Chicago, IL 60605
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