Decolonising urban hospitality, sanctuary, and solidarity: considering Buen Vivir and Ubuntu

Abstract

The field of migration and refugee studies—and by implication how we conceptualise urban migrant inclusion and urban refugee protection—continues to perpetuate Eurocentric and colonial perspectives. In this chapter, we present the results of a scoping review of the literature to explore if and to which degree the concepts of hospitality, sanctuary, and solidarity are implicated in this practice. In addition, we introduce the alternative concepts of Buen Vivir from Latin America and African ubuntu to conceptualise migrant and refugee inclusion in a non-Eurocentric way. We propose that such alternative non-European and non-Western concepts can contribute to decolonising the field of migration and refugee studies and how we look at urban migrant inclusion and refugee protection.