Radical hospitality is not a new idea
Thank you to Mary Schleicher who responded to my invitation to provide a “guest blog” for Accoglienza. She, too, is deeply interested in the history and application of Radical Hospitality. You can learn a bit more about Mary at the end of this blog!
Radical hospitality is a concept that has been around for thousands of years. To help understand it better and what makes it “radical,” I want to take a look at it from many angles, old and new. These angles make up the core principles of radical hospitality and include:
an unconditional welcoming of the stranger;
creating horizontal relationships rather than hierarchical ones;
creating comfortable spaces through the use of familiar language, and
assuming a persistently “invitational” attitude toward others.
The principles are ‘radical’ in nature because they focus on the other to a degree that goes beyond standard notions of hospitality and often require effort and stretching beyond one’s comfort zones.
Welcoming the stranger
Radical hospitality is a concept with deeply theological roots. We read about it in the Old Testament where God commands the Israelites to welcome foreigners, “for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Ex 22:21; Lev 19:34). In the New Testament, the Pharisees criticize Jesus because he displays a radical hospitality in eating with tax collectors and other ‘sinners’ (Lk 10:30-32). Elsewhere we read, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers” (Heb 13:2) because Jesus himself tells us that the way we treat the least among us is how we treat him (Matt 25:40). He identifies himself with the poor, the marginalized, and the outsider, and we are to see him in them – ALL of them -- a radical concept in itself!
Horizontal relationships
In the context of higher education, author John Bennett describes a type of academic hospitality as “treating others, at least initially, as one's intellectual equals, letting them know they matter as fellow inquirers…it means recognizing that even strangers could be colleagues.”[1] He goes on to explain that an intellectual hospitality is more than “being nice” because it refuses to “insist upon one’s own terms” and avoids a domineering “imperialism” in conversations by practicing mutual openness to, and reciprocity of, ideas.[2] Difficult, perhaps, but obtainable.
One can sense a theme emerging that prefers to see the ‘other’ in a horizontal or equal relation, rather than a vertical, or superior/inferior relationship that creates an inequality. Sounds good on paper but what would this type of horizontal, other-centered radical hospitality actually look like? A few writers have given us some good concrete illustrations. In an interview, philosopher Jacques Derrida stated:
“Pure hospitality consists in welcoming whoever arrives before imposing any conditions on him, before knowing and asking anything at all, be it a name or an identity ‘paper’…Hospitality consists in doing everything to address the other, to accord him, even to ask his name, while keeping this question from becoming a ‘condition’, a police inquisition, a blacklist or a simple border control.” [3]
A ‘linguistic hospitality’
Dr. Maria Grazia Imperiale holds a PhD in education and has researched intercultural communications and written about “linguistic hospitality.” This is using the language of non-native speakers in the classroom to promote a welcoming and hospitable environment. She offers keen insight into the ‘radical’ nature of an unconditional hospitality in the online learning environment, describing it as a “willingness to push the threshold of what is possible…” It involves going beyond one’s comfort zone by “leaning/stretching towards the impossible.” Here again we see a horizontal outreach to those who are culturally different or linguistically separated from us. It is radical because it involves effort and perhaps inconvenience or discomfort on our part to implement it.
Good posture is important!
Another good description of radical hospitality is an “unceasingly invitational posture” which we are to assume everywhere we go: work, family, community, etc. Kearney and Fitzpatrick have written a whole book on the topic of Radical Hospitality and how it involves a risk to even undertake. As one summary explains, “The book contends that hospitality means chancing one’s hand, one’s arm, one’s very self, thereby opening a vital space for new voices to be heard, shedding old skins, and welcoming new understandings.”
Application to our mental health systems
Dr. Watkins book has an entire chapter devoted to radical hospitality
How can we take radical hospitality into the mental health system, where so many feel marginalized or unheard? In her book, Mutual Accompaniment and the Creation of the Commons, Mary Watkins describes how journalist and social activist Dorothy Day embodied “mutual accompaniment” in her work with the poorest members of society. She took the “radical social position” of not simply doling out charity, but “standing for and with the poor and marginalized,” which included “honoring their dignity and their worth.”[4] In this type of radical hospitality, a “mutual transfiguration” takes place between the giver and the recipient.[5] This happens in attending to the “little things that create connection” between helpers and those being helped: welcoming, radical inclusivity, attentiveness.[6] Watkins goes on to explain that accompaniment can take several forms: spiritual, community, or work accompaniment. “The essential aspects of these three forms of accompaniment are listening, caring, clarifying, affirming, and challenging…All this rests on a basis of trust.”[7] These simple acts of two-way communication between giver and receiver have the potential to change not one, but two lives – hence, a mutual transfiguration.
Henri Nouwen was a Catholic priest who wrote much about the obligatory nature of a radical hospitality - one that should not conjure up images of “tea parties and bland conversations,”[8] as he describes in his book, Reaching Out:
“Hospitality means primarily the creation of a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place…it is to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines…Hospitality is not a subtle invitation to adopt the lifestyle of the host, but the gift of a chance for the guest to find his own.”[9]
Nouwen has written much more about the topic and delves more deeply into hospitality than the cursory glance I’ve given here, but he reiterates the theme that hospitality is more than a discrete act but “a fundamental attitude” towards others which can take many forms.[10]
A modern example of this approach is Broad Street Ministry, whose mission is to offer food and a variety of social services to the homeless in Philadelphia. They are aware that building trust is not something that can happen overnight. They “offer radical hospitality as an entry point for people to access to life-changing services.” These small steps lay the foundation for much greater transformations.
Welcoming unconditionally, reaching out to others horizontally, speaking a recognizable language, and a persistently hospitable attitiude are some of the principles at the heart of radical hospitality. While embodying these principles may not be easy, they have the power to change not only others but those who offer them.
About the author, Mary Schleicher:
I work as a medical librarian, but have been a lifelong student, and in May of 2022 I received a Theology degree because I wanted to learn more about my faith. I also wanted to embark on a freelance writing career. When I discovered Kerry's work on incorporating the concept of radical hospitality into the mental health system, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to weave my love for research and writing together with my theology background. We decided to explore the different contexts, both old and new, in which radical hospitality has been expressed.
You can reach out to Mary at mcschleicher@hotmail.com
[1] Bennett, John B. “The Academy and Hospitality.” CrossCurrents 50, no. 1/2 (2000), 25.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Derrida, J. The Principle of Hospitality, Parallax, 11:1, (2005), 7.
[4] Watkins, M. (2019). “Radical Hospitality and the Heart of Accompaniment.” In Mutual Accompaniment and the Creation of the Commons. Yale University Press, 66.
[5] Watkins, 68.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Watkins, 71.
[8] Nouwen, H.J.M. (1975). Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life. Image Books (Doubleday).
[9] Nouwen, 71-2.
[10] Nouwen, 67.