50 students.
1 book.
5 reading circles.
1 conversation that matters.
1 meeting with Lilian Thuram — here at SSE.
Special Literary Agenda circle with Lilian Thuram
This year, Literary Agenda presents a special reading circle around White Thinking by Lilian Thuram. A former World Cup-winning footballer, author and philantrophist, Thuram explores the history and mechanisms of racism and challenges us to think about race, identity and society.
Read. Discuss. Learn. Meet.
SSE will in the autumn of 2026 initiate a collaboration with Fondation Lilian Thuram – Éducation contre le racisme, a foundation established in 2008 by the French football player Lilian Thuram. The organization works actively against racism and prejudice through education, often directed at schools, with a focus on promoting tolerance, challenging racist stereotypes, and fostering equality.
The collaboration aims to increase knowledge about racism, exclusion, and pathways to greater inclusion, and brings together the School’s reading initiative Literary Agenda with the SSE library, the Center for Migration and Integration Research and the Center for Sports and Business/Sport Initiative.
As part of the collaboration, 50 of our students and faculty will jointly read one of Thuram’s books (White Thinking), creating a shared foundation for reflection and discussion. This will be followed by a group discission (we will divid the participants into groups of ten) about the book, and a visit from Lilian Thuram, who will meet participants in an open conversation about the themes of the book and his own – and the groups - experiences.
In addition, a public lecture on the same themes is planned in the School’s aula, open to a wider audience.
The collaboration between the School and Thuram seeks to deepen participants’ understanding of the mechanisms of racism, while also encouraging more nuanced conversations about how we can counter exclusion and strengthen a more inclusive society. It is also part of the School’s broader initiatives, where elements of art, literature, and sport demonstrate how knowledge can take different forms—initiatives that aim to integrate body, mind, and emotion in learning. These initiatives are closely aligned with and support the School’s educational mission FREE: to educate students who are fact-based, reflective, empathetic, and entrepreneurial.
Literary Agenda × Lilian Thuram
Stockholm School of Economics
HOW IT WORKS
50 students
→ receive a copy of White Thinking
5 reading circles
→ discuss the book in groups of 10 (in November)
1 special encounter
→ meet Lilian Thuram at Stockholm School of Economics in late November to discuss the book, its themes and the questions it raises.