Conceptualizing the intersections between migration, (in)hospitality and belonging in uncertain times

Crossing disciplinary and geographical boundaries, migration research provides insight into contemporary migration patterns and new phenomena, and explores human experiences of migration that stretch beyond one-dimensional political and public discourses. Experiences of hospitality and hostility, and how these shape migrants’ sense of belonging, are central to migration research and practice. Through conceptualizing the intersections between migration, hospitality – and its opposite hostility – and belonging, this editorial advances scholarly debates in migration and hospitality studies. It explores how deploying the concepts of hospitality and hostility can deepen analyses of migration and understandings of the complexities of belonging for migrants, while also encouraging researchers to consider some of the conceptual limitations. In this editorial, we discuss the articles comprising this Special Issue on ‘Migration, (In)Hospitality and Belonging in Uncertain Times’, and the ways in which these contributions illuminate the multi-layered complexities and contradictions inherent in power relations between host and guest, and the mundane everyday acts of hospitality/hostility that influence these relationships and shape migrants’ sense of belonging. We suggest future research directions, including the application of a decolonial lens and a feminist ethics of care and love to discourses and practices of hospitality, so that the implications for migration can be better understood.