Intersections of hospitality and race in integration discourse

ABSTRACT This paper adopts a hospitality framework to analyze discourses of integration in the city of Antwerp. Anti-immigration and cultural racism have found a shared home in populist and nationalist movements in Europe, like the Flemish city that has become one significant site of tension between ideologically opposed groups on the subject of immigration. As such, hospitality coacts with discourses of race to mandate the adoption of dominant cultural norms by (im)migrant groups. In this paper, I unpack four discourses: (1) Not Belgium Anymore, (2) Belgian Complicity, (3) Intolerance of Intolerance, and (4) Interpersonal Knowledge, which emerged out of a critical ethnography comprised of participant observation and semi-structured interviews. This study on integration discourse complements extant research that has illuminated demonizing representations of immigrants as lazy, invading criminals, which is consequential as constructions of integration normalize and/or problematize restrictionist immigration policy. While each of these four discourses is complex, contested, and nuanced, they collectively presuppose a standard of assimilation for (im)migrants, whilst seeking to mitigate accusations of racism.