At the Crossroads of Ethics. An Introduction

Abstract

Hospitality, a seemingly benevolent human practice, exists within a paradoxical framework of inclusion and exclusion. As Jacques Derrida suggests in his concept of hostipitality, hospitality is never entirely pure but is instead bound by conditions, power structures, and social hierarchies that determine its limits. This issue of Crossroads critically engages with these complexities, particularly within American cultural, historical, and literary contexts. The featured articles examine the intersections of hospitality and exclusion, addressing issues such as racialized hospitality under Jim Crow laws, identity fraud within Indigenous communities, the spatial regulation of hospitality in elite leisure spaces, and the selective inclusion of immigrants in the United States. Through literature, history, and cultural analysis, these contributions reveal how hospitality, rather than being an unconditional welcome, often operates as a mechanism of control, reinforcing existing social and political inequalities. By exploring the ethical and political stakes of hospitality across diverse disciplines, this collection fosters a deeper understanding of how hospitality functions as both a gesture of openness and an instrument of exclusion. In doing so, it aligns with Crossroads’ mission to promote interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, and contrastive research in the humanities, urging scholars to reconsider the role of hospitality in shaping contemporary global identities and power structures.