Feminism and Hospitality: Gender in the Host/Guest Relationship

by Maurice Hamington (Editor), Fauzia Erfan Ahmed (Contribution by), Patricia Boling (Contribution by), Stephanie Burdick-Shepherd (Contribution by), Jacqueline M. Davies (Contribution by)

Overview

Hospitality is something of a modern paradox. On the one hand, hospitality connotes a nicety or pleasantry easily undervalued as a ritual or formality devoid of epistemological or ethical content. On the other hand, the rise in international conflict and violence, the decline of civil speech, and the increased hostility toward immigrants points to the dire need for hospitable responses to mitigate tensions.

Hospitality represents a further paradox for feminism. Historically, women have been saddled with disproportionate responsibility for hospitality and have also been treated as unwelcome guests in so many arenas. For these reasons, feminists have good reason to be wary of addressing hospitality. Yet, feminist theory has taken the lead on developing ontological, epistemological, and ethical approaches to connectedness and relationality such that addressing hospitality appears to be an appropriate extrapolation. Feminism and Hospitality is a collection that negotiates amidst these intriguing paradoxes.

Feminism and Hospitality: Gender in the Host/Guest Relationship is the first collection of original works to bring a feminist analysis to issues and theories of personal, political, economic, and artistic hospitality. Furthermore, because feminist theorists have brought so much attention to the nature of human relationships, this volume employs a fresh analysis beyond the tradition in political theory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739136270
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	08/14/2010
Pages:	340
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Maurice Hamington is associate professor of women's studies and philosophy at Metropolitan State College of Denver

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction Maurice Hamington xi

Part I Theories of Feminism and Hospitality

1 Hospitableness: A Neglected Virtue Nancy E. Snow 3

2 Su Casa es Mi Casa? Hospitality, Feminist Care Ethics, and Reciprocity Maureen Sander-Staudt 19

3 Hospitality: Agency, Ethics, and Gender Helen Daley Schroepfer 39

Part II Gender and Domestic Hospitality

4 Shame in Feminine Hospitality Daniel Haggerty 55

5 Domestic Hospitality: Self, Other, and Community Jo-Ann Pilardi 71

6 From Saint Martha To Hurricane Katrina: A Feminist Theopolitical Ethic Of Hospitality M. Christian Green 91

Part III International Explorations of Feminism and Hospitality

7 Welcoming Courtyards: Hospitality, Spirituality, and Gender Fauzia Erfan Ahmed 109

8 Feminism, Hospitality, and Women in Exile Ileana F. Szymanski 125

9 Hospitality and European Muslims Meyda Yegenoglu 163

10 Caring Hospitality and Mexican "Illegal" Immigrants Maurice Hamington 187

Part IV Gender, Hospitality, and Commerce

11 The Home/Work Interface In Family Hospitality Businesses: Gendered Dimensions and Constructions MariaLaura Di Domenico 207

12 Hospitality in the Doctor's Office Patricia Boling 223

13 Providing Hospitality In Mid-Nineteenth Century West Virginia Cities Barbara J. Howe 237

Part V Feminism and Hospitality in Film and Literature

14 Reading Levinas in The Apartment Jacqueline M. Davies 263

15 Reading Feminist Hospitality In Plato's Timaeus: Possibilities For Education Stephanie Burdick-Shepherd 281

Selected Bibliography 299

Index 307

Contributor Biographics 311

Editorial Reviews

Feminism and Hospitality is an important text that illuminates how hospitality is defined and redefined in local and global contexts that necessarily intertwine public and private spheres. The range of topics, national locations, and relationships considered truly make this a unique and provocative text. Hamington succeeds in powerfully making the case that hospitality deserves more attention in our complex and often inhospitable world.

Rebecca Ropers-Huilman

This collection beautifully demonstrates that the notion of hospitality is much richer than first meets the eye. Using gender as their jumping-off point, the authors draw on a number of theoretical frameworks to explore hospitality in the home, in international contexts, in (or as) business, and in film and literature. Join them in this fascinating examination—make yourself at home.

Hilde Lindemann

Maurice Hamington has constructed a dynamic, historically-informed theoretical framework to explore the relationship between feminism and hospitality. Its relevance to social issues, from houses of prostitution and bed and breakfast establishments to the devastation of and recovery from Hurricane Katrina, and the plight of new immigrants in the United States and Europe, includes a full range of social analyses from domestic to international hospitality, and will encourage further work on its topics.

Betty J. Harris

Feminism and Hospitality is an important text that illuminates how hospitality is defined and redefined in local and global contexts that necessarily intertwine public and private spheres. The range of topics, national locations, and relationships considered truly make this a unique and provocative text. Hamington succeeds in powerfully making the case that hospitality deserves more attention in our complex and often inhospitable world.--Rebecca Ropers-Huilman, professor at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and editor of Feminist Formations

Maurice Hamington has constructed a dynamic, historically-informed theoretical framework to explore the relationship between feminism and hospitality. Its relevance to social issues, from houses of prostitution and bed and breakfast establishments to the devastation of and recovery from Hurricane Katrina, and the plight of new immigrants in the United States and Europe, includes a full range of social analyses from domestic to international hospitality, and will encourage further work on its topics.--Betty J. Harris, professor at the University of Oklahoma

This collection beautifully demonstrates that the notion of hospitality is much richer than first meets the eye. Using gender as their jumping-off point, the authors draw on a number of theoretical frameworks to explore hospitality in the home, in international contexts, in (or as) business, and in film and literature. Join them in this fascinating examination--make yourself at home.--Hilde Lindemann, professor at Michigan State University

From the Publisher