Hospitality and the limitations of the national

Hospitality as an ancient tradition with ethical imperatives has become politicized in Europe and the New World in the last two decades. Strict hospitality laws have been issued to ‘protect’ rich states from any form of visitation from poor countries since they are perceived as potential economic immigrants that may threaten the financial, social and political stability of the host countries. The mobility of non-European nationals such as Africans, Middle Easterners and Asians are perceived with mistrust as potentially undesirable ‘guests’ in the rich North, whereas the movement of capital, goods and ‘tourists’ is unlimited towards countries of the South. The imbalance of this relationship calls for an analysis of the relationship between hospitality and capital and property, especially the national one.