Constructions and Subversions of Refugees’ Liminality Within the Discourse of Hospitality

In the ethnographic tradition, hospitality is commonly understood as the structuring principle of the guest–host relationship, implying unequal power distribution. It can also be seen as a process by which the host appropriates a space as home, while the guest is relegated to a precarious, temporary, and liminal position. This paper analyzes the structural position of Afghan refugees evacuated to the Albanian town of Shëngjin by various (mostly US-based) organizations after the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in August of 2021. It traces the discourses, ideologies, and practices of hospitality enacted by different actors: the Albanian government, the local authorities, international organizations, and the displaced Afghans themselves. The paper contrasts the political discourse of hospitality with the refugees’ practices of hospitality. When mobilized by state authorities, hospitality serves as a powerful tool for constructing the refugee as a liminal and precarious social subject, while also strengthening the notion of the nation. At the same time, refugees’ practices of homemaking and hospitality challenge this framework, destabilizing the static and territorialized notion of home and rejecting the representation of refugees as passive recipients of foreign generosity

Ethnography · Hospitality · Liminality · Power (physics · Refugee · Representation (politics · State (computer science · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Tourism, Volunteerism, and Development