Welcoming the masses, entitling the stranger – commentary to Gill

Abstract

Identity politics create distinctions, narratives and shared conceptions, and where distinctions can be made, differences arise. Contemporary states, organisations, companies and communities have procedures to level out these social boundaries, but the process of hospitality and welcome is at times more problematic than exclusion. The key question concerns the universality of welcome. If our welcome is extended to the masses, is the mass itself defined and delimited and, second, how does a general welcome condition everyday encounters with the (entitled) stranger. In this reflection, we concentrate on the concept of welcome on two different levels. The mass and interpersonal encounters and argue that whether refugees, migrants or tourists the spatiality of the welcome needs to be considered from both individual and collective viewpoints.

Envisioning human security – commentary to Gill

“…Faced with this monopolisation of how security is defined and what its concerns are, we need to increasingly and collectively advocate for a broader human security agenda, supporting research that brings together scholars, policy makers, activists and (crucially) refugees themselves, in creatively considering how to respond responsibly to what is one of the most pivotal 'societal challenges' for the EU since its formation. Such a plea ties in with the important concerns raised by earlier responses to Nick's piece here in Fennia, about being attentive to the conditions of how we are expected to do and measure 'societal impact' in an age fixated with metrics and economized values (Bagelman 2018;Vainikka & Vainikka 2018).…”

The Other’s Wave: Ethnographic Insights on Three “Tsunamis of Tourism” in Barcelona

“…This is why the manifestations of rejection (symbolic or violent) are confined to the Catalan-speaking areas and, increasingly, to the Basque Country, healing its wounds after four decades of separatist terrorism (Libération, 2020). (My translation) So, it would not be about the tourist or tourism per se but about the fear of a loss of identity caused, in part, by the troubled, almost conflictual, resident-tourist relationship (Milano, 2017;Vainikka & Vainikka, 2018), and of a denial of the "citizen's right to the city" (Lefebvre, 1996(Lefebvre, [1968) in the face of the touristification of public spaces. From a place where different realities coexisted, the Rambla has become the symbol of the "Barcelonan theme park".…”

Recognition and attunement in migration research

“…I also have in mind the social processes of welcome/unwelcome, recognition/disregard (or even erasure), and hospitality/hostility which affect migrants materially and psychosocially (e.g. Gill 2018; Vainikka and Vainikka, 2018; Vuolteenaho and Lyytinen, 2018). Many irregular and undocumented migrants are repeatedly informed that they do not belong, for instance, through governmental and other administrative processes, and are made to feel unwelcome in their everyday interactions.…”