Plastic hospitality: The empty signifier at the EU’s Mediterranean border

Abstract

Hospitality and hospitality-laden language feature highly among people working in or around structures of first reception in Italy and Malta, two countries at the European Union’s (EU) external border. This is peculiar because hospitality rarely features at first reception, which forms part of the state’s border system. Characteristically, security issues are prioritized, and the first reception system is managed by the member state’s security agents, in collaboration with EU and international security agents. In practice, first reception refers to the processes of identification, registration, and classification that irregular migrants go through after having crossed the border without authorization and, often, without identification. Drawing on long-term and multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in Italy and Malta, this article examines some of the uses of hospitality language by a spectrum of territorial borderworkers operating with state, non-state, security, humanitarian, and activist entities in the two countries that are the object of this study. Discourse analysis yields interesting insights into how the use of the hospitality paradigm and hospitality terminology in first reception is less about hospitality practices and more about power. It proposes that the hospitality paradigm be conceptualized as a Laclauian empty signifier, and therefore, as a locus of power.

A space of welcome for (almost) everyone: A study on the tension between Brighton and Bologna’s institutional narratives and practices of welcome

“…In conclusion, Brighton and Bologna are welcoming places, but they are also very selective in their welcoming, focusing on specific groups that fit the local dominant narrative. Drawing from De Bono's (2019) work on European borders, this article shows that within European cities too the concept of welcome is an empty signifier that can be filled with various meanings and include or exclude different groups. This analysis prompts further reflection.…”

Discerning networks: Distortions of human movement in Urabá, Colombia

“…We understand this use of the term redes as an empty signifier. In a study of the hospitality paradigm in Italy and Malta, DeBono (2019) sees different elements of hospitality terminology in migrant reception centers as “floating signifiers” that lack distinct meanings or reference points but rather cover a wide variety of practices and concepts. Yet, for her, as a paradigm, hospitality really constitutes an “empty signifier” that reproduces and reenforces state interests over migrants through exclusion and control.…”

“Just tensions left, right and centre”: assessing the social impact of international migration on deindustrialized locale

“…In the same time period, extended conflict in the Middle East and North Africa, namely in Libya, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan, has created a humanitarian and migrant crisis as large numbers of displaced families seek refuge in Europe (Žižek, 2016). The 'migrant crisis' has raised questions about western intervention in the Middle East, the role of EU member states in offering refuge and support (DeBono, 2019), the spectre of Islamic terrorism in European cities (Nail, 2016), and concerns about European cultural diffusion and decline (Murray, 2018). Borders are increasingly contested spaces (Jones, 2017;Canning, 2018;DeBono, 2019) as access and entry for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers is politically volatile (Mayblin, 2019).…”

“…The 'migrant crisis' has raised questions about western intervention in the Middle East, the role of EU member states in offering refuge and support (DeBono, 2019), the spectre of Islamic terrorism in European cities (Nail, 2016), and concerns about European cultural diffusion and decline (Murray, 2018). Borders are increasingly contested spaces (Jones, 2017;Canning, 2018;DeBono, 2019) as access and entry for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers is politically volatile (Mayblin, 2019). While much literature focuses on the media framing and narratives of international migration, refugee crisis and borders (Silber-Mohamed and Faris, 2020; Chouliaraki and Stolic, 2017;Dines, Montagna and Vachelli, 2018), it is imperative to understand the reality of migration and place.…”