Start Date
26-5-2026 11:00 AM
End Date
26-5-2026 11:15 AM
Description
Food insecurity faced by disadvantaged groups of migrants (i.e., voluntary migrants living in low-income households and forced migrants – namely asylum seekers) undermines the nature of hospitality, creating conditions of inhospitableness associated with hunger, injustice, insecurity, and poverty. This study presents a critical interpretation of hospitality in crisis by concentrating on food insecurity resulting from government and non-government food policies in England, that are inhospitable towards forced migrants – contributing to an area of enquiry with limited research in food and hospitality studies. The study draws on the teachings of Jacques Derrida, particularly his philosophical perspective on (in)hospitality/hostipitality, with conceptualisations of conditional and unconditional hospitality at individual and state level. It explores the “stranger,” host/guest relationships, notions of home, the sense of (un)welcoming, as well as connotations associated with being a foreigner, and terms such as “other” and “outsider” that are often used to describe immigrants. These concepts are applied to the study of food insecurity and contextualised to understandings of inhospitality and hostility to critically decipher hospitality and food policy. The study reflects on an initial Rapid Evidence Assessment that explored ways to improve access to nutritious food for migrants and draws on semi-structured interviews and interpretive accounts of asylum seekers’ lived experiences in contingency hotel accommodation in England. Findings highlight an acute crisis of hospitality which, instead of generosity and acts of welcome, functions through systemic mechanisms of control, surveillance, and exclusion. There is a need to examine food policy related to immigration to tackle food insecurity among migrants in England, and to address inequitable food systems that consequently lead to food crisis among migrant populations.
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Included in
Hospitality in Crisis: Deciphering Food Insecurity Among Migrants from a Derridean Perspective
Food insecurity faced by disadvantaged groups of migrants (i.e., voluntary migrants living in low-income households and forced migrants – namely asylum seekers) undermines the nature of hospitality, creating conditions of inhospitableness associated with hunger, injustice, insecurity, and poverty. This study presents a critical interpretation of hospitality in crisis by concentrating on food insecurity resulting from government and non-government food policies in England, that are inhospitable towards forced migrants – contributing to an area of enquiry with limited research in food and hospitality studies. The study draws on the teachings of Jacques Derrida, particularly his philosophical perspective on (in)hospitality/hostipitality, with conceptualisations of conditional and unconditional hospitality at individual and state level. It explores the “stranger,” host/guest relationships, notions of home, the sense of (un)welcoming, as well as connotations associated with being a foreigner, and terms such as “other” and “outsider” that are often used to describe immigrants. These concepts are applied to the study of food insecurity and contextualised to understandings of inhospitality and hostility to critically decipher hospitality and food policy. The study reflects on an initial Rapid Evidence Assessment that explored ways to improve access to nutritious food for migrants and draws on semi-structured interviews and interpretive accounts of asylum seekers’ lived experiences in contingency hotel accommodation in England. Findings highlight an acute crisis of hospitality which, instead of generosity and acts of welcome, functions through systemic mechanisms of control, surveillance, and exclusion. There is a need to examine food policy related to immigration to tackle food insecurity among migrants in England, and to address inequitable food systems that consequently lead to food crisis among migrant populations.