Hospitality as a Phenomenological Economy Estella Carpi Migration

Unpacking ‘hospitality’: Locals, governments and entities hosting refugees • The construction of hospitality to

Other economies of hospitality • Refugees hosting refugees: - Ethical hierarchies between older and

The utility of a ’phenomenological’ economy of hospitality • The growing concern of ‘giving

Slides: 5

Hospitality as a ‘Phenomenological Economy’ Estella Carpi, Migration Research Unit, University College London Refugee Host International Conference 24 -25 October 2019, UCL

Unpacking ‘hospitality’: Locals, governments and entities hosting refugees • The construction of hospitality to cover up social tensions • Ethical comparison of states, social groups and individuals • A social fragmentation force • Unidirectional discursive strategy that ethically acknowledges only one category, and predetermines the social roles at stake • The need for a ‘phenomenological’ economy

Other economies of hospitality • Refugees hosting refugees: - Ethical hierarchies between older and newer migration flows underlying the ‘hospitality setting’ • Refugees hosting outside communities: - Strategic use of refugeeprovided hospitality (Eg. studies on everyday life; participatory approaches, etc. ) - Focus on refugee performance (Eg. Burman 2002; Dunn 2018), while looking for spontaneity and authenticity in refugee lives

The utility of a ’phenomenological’ economy of hospitality • The growing concern of ‘giving back’ still neglects the ‘afterlife’ of fieldwork (Fassin 2017): the outsider’s intellectual authority remains unquestioned • Hospitality (at times a moral/cultural obligation) is mistaken for local consent: the actual grammar of local ethics remains unknown to outsiders

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