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<p>Dear Ricardo,</p>
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<p>hope all is well. This is the week of my contribution as well. I was busy lately and as honestly the mailing list format is not my favourite (there are always many characters appearing besides the text itself that i find tiring while reading..)</p>
<p>Is there a chance to get some kind of an overview / a digest of what has been discusses in the past two weeks? I´d be grateful for that. And what would you like me to address with my contribution? Should I send descriptions of my works or / and reflection on what´s going on right now in Fortress Europe as the situation on borders is dramatically changing?</p>
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<p>Warm greetings form Berlin,</p>
<p>Tanja</p>
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<div style="margin:0 0 10px 0;"><b>Gesendet:</b> Sonntag, 21. Februar 2016 um 15:29 Uhr<br/>
<b>Von:</b> "Ricardo Dominguez" <rrdominguez@ucsd.edu><br/>
<b>An:</b> empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au<br/>
<b>Betreff:</b> Re: [-empyre-] The Remittance State of Being and Becoming</div>
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Hola Robert,<br><br/>
<br><br/>
Thanks so much for your thoughts.<br><br/>
<br><br/>
Yes, I do think that constructing an ethics at the level of the<br/>
micro as opposed to the macro-scale is <br><br/>
really important diagram. <br><br/>
<br><br/>
How much can communities open to flow of the strangers into their<br/>
zones of being? <br><br/>
<br><br/>
And to be aware that at the micro-scale even immigrant communities<br/>
may not be welcoming of immigrants.<br><br/>
<br><br/>
So that the call of total hospitality becoming more than hospitality<br/>
is not possible at any level or only in<br><br/>
very specific forms, times, and places. <br><br/>
<br><br/>
That even the categories of refugees, immigrants, asylum seeker, and<br/>
economic immigrants cannot do justice to<br><br/>
the specificity of individual needs, stories, and states of violence<br/>
each encounters back home or as homeless. <br><br/>
<br><br/>
(In Escape Routes one immigrant from Syria navigates the borders by<br/>
becoming different people-he "the end" his journey<br><br/>
becoming a women who has been married and divorced twice-and now has<br/>
multiple "homeless" identities. Some of the<br><br/>
of those citizens without borders chose to be imperceptible (an<br/>
never seek rights or representation that are equated with the<br><br/>
police-state.) <br><br/>
<br><br/>
What is the calculus of decision, of an ethics-without-ethics, at<br/>
the macro-scale that allows some to cross and others to be denied?<br><br/>
<br><br/>
For instance I have come to understand that at the new border in<br/>
Germany-the process seems random, like<br><br/>
a lottery? So that ethics of decision are not bound to "objective"<br/>
analysis of the individual-but instead an "objective" game<br><br/>
of chance without-the-need-for-ethics. Or perhaps a higher-ethics of<br/>
chaosmosis. <br><br/>
<br><br/>
And either one failing before the singularities of each individual's<br/>
needs and reasons. And specific response awaiting them after they<br/>
across the line with even deeper states of alienation awaiting them,<br/>
even among the "own" communities. <br><br/>
<br><br/>
We end up is a space where their is hope but not for them or us in<br/>
finding an ethical calculus of crossing or being crossed. <br><br/>
<br><br/>
With Abrazos of Anti-Anti Utopianism,<br><br/>
Ricardo<br><br/>
<br><br/>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/20/16 11:58 AM, Robert Irwin<br/>
wrote:<br><br/>
</div><br/>
<blockquote cite="mid:56C8C554.2010104@ucdavis.edu" type="cite"><br/>
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Hello everyone,<br><br/>
<br><br/>
I have not had a chance to participate as much as I would have<br/>
like this week and I apologize. <br><br/>
<br><br/>
I think some important issues come up here. I think it is<br/>
important to get up as close as we can to the human experience of<br/>
migration from as many angles as possible in order to understand<br/>
its complexities and the ethical issues implied in assuming any<br/>
position, whether in our politics, our art or our academic work.<br><br/>
<br><br/>
I think the focus in the line of discussion here (below) on<br/>
hospitality is an important one. While we might tend to think<br/>
about hospitality in terms of a "nation" and whether or not it<br/>
"opens its doors" to refugees or other categories of migrant or<br/>
not (and I insist that although war refugees certainly are<br/>
deserving of attention, if accepting them means turning away<br/>
others that for not being war refugees are automatically<br/>
categorized as "economic immigrants", this response is ultimately<br/>
brutal and indefensible), this is a gross oversimplification, that<br/>
only begins to get at the diversity in human experience of<br/>
migration. The emigration of refugees is a form of violent<br/>
displacement; the deportation of "economic immigrants" is often a<br/>
form of displacement that is no less violent.<br><br/>
<br><br/>
There is a much read book in the US on historical processes of<br/>
Mexican migration called <i>Becoming Mexican American</i> (George<br/>
S�nchez 1995) that focuses on community building in Los Angeles.<br/>
Immigration is often thought in this way: migrants arriving and<br/>
gradually becoming comfortable as they are accepted into an ever<br/>
growing community of peers. However, many migration stories,<br/>
including those that are not merely about so-called circular<br/>
migration (in reference to those whose aim is only to earn some<br/>
money then return to their hometown), reflect not only rejection<br/>
by the mainstream of the host country (whether institutions,<br/>
vigilante groups, neighbors, etc.) but perhaps a lack of<br/>
hospitality among immigrant communities - stories of often abject<br/>
alienation that end in homelessness, incarceration, detention,<br/>
deportation. These stories are much less well known.<br><br/>
<br><br/>
The notion of community tends to be used very casually. Many<br/>
immigrants, even in the context of long established flows such as<br/>
the US-Mexico borderlands, are not unambiguously received by a<br/>
welcoming community of peers. Alienation is a more important part<br/>
of many individual stories than we tend to think. In many cases,<br/>
there is simply no community to receive them, but rather<br/>
individuals here and there who may or may not help them find<br/>
shelter, work, food.<br><br/>
<br><br/>
Ricardo defines unconditional hospitality in a way that would seem<br/>
to be untenable perhaps for even the most tolerant individuals<br/>
living in immigrant destinations, including those who manage to<br/>
settle in stable communities composed of fairly recent immigrants.<br/>
What would be a reasonable and viable ethical limit of conditional<br/>
hospitality? What variables might be used to define such a limit?<br/>
Would they have to do with the motives for their migration? the<br/>
potential consequences of their forced return? their state of<br/>
alienation? their state of material need?<br><br/>
<br><br/>
Best,<br><br/>
<br><br/>
Robert<br><br/>
<br><br/>
<br><br/>
<br><br/>
<br><br/>
Hola,<br><br/>
<blockquote cite="mid:56C87E25.20406@ucsd.edu" type="cite"><br/>
<blockquote<br/>
cite="mid:CANvRK-mJYGJPeb8WesxjhZSU56Zmje5hLmTFggJDEUMGrCD2dA@mail.gmail.com"<br/>
type="cite"><br/>
<div dir="ltr"><span><br/>
<p dir="ltr"<br/>
style="line-height:1.656;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue';color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">Ricardo, thank you for the link to Alex Rivera�s film</span><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue';color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">. It is interesting to know this is happening in Newburgh. I�ve been there a few times and as a city it is struggling with cultural and economic development, this raises questions like:</span></p><br/>
<p dir="ltr"<br/>
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><b<br/>
style="font-weight:normal"><br><br/>
</b></p><br/>
<p dir="ltr"<br/>
style="line-height:1.656;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue';color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">How do migrant communities insert themselves into the communities they move to? </span></p><br/>
</span></div><br/>
</blockquote><br/>
It depends on the double intersection of how the open the<br/>
communities are to the immigrants and to what degree a<br/>
pre-established<br><br/>
ground has been staged by those immigrants that came before. <br><br/>
<br><br/>
Some individuals may never become a part of that the communities<br/>
they end up living for the rest of their lives-another Alex<br/>
Rivera<br><br/>
film about his own father, who spends all his non-work life<br/>
watching Peruvian TV:<br><br/>
<br><br/>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;<br/>
charset=windows-1252"><br/>
An experimental video about immigration. Looking at the potato<br/>
(which was first cultivated in Peru) Papapap� paints a picture<br/>
of a vegetable that has traveled and been transformed�following<br/>
the migrating potato North where it becomes the potato chip, the<br/>
couch potato, and the french fry. Papapap� simultaneously<br/>
follows another Peruvian in motion, the artist�s father, Augusto<br/>
Rivera. The stories of the two immigrants, the potato and Papa<br/>
Rivera, converge as Augusto becomes a Peruvian couch potato,<br/>
sitting on an American sofa, eating potato chips and watching<br/>
Spanish language television.<br><br/>
<br><br/>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"<br/>
href="http://www.vdb.org/titles/papapapa"><a href="http://www.vdb.org/titles/papapapa" target="_blank">http://www.vdb.org/titles/papapapa</a></a><br><br/>
<blockquote<br/>
cite="mid:CANvRK-mJYGJPeb8WesxjhZSU56Zmje5hLmTFggJDEUMGrCD2dA@mail.gmail.com"<br/>
type="cite"><br/>
<div dir="ltr"><span><br/>
<p dir="ltr"<br/>
style="line-height:1.656;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue';color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><br/>
</span></p><br/>
<p dir="ltr"<br/>
style="line-height:1.656;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue';color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">And in return, how open or inviting is the place?</span></p><br/>
</span></div><br/>
</blockquote><br/>
Yes, the question of "hospitality" is a core issue. This also<br/>
echos for me Derrida's 'possible� conception of hospitality, in<br/>
which our most well-intentioned conceptions of hospitality<br/>
render the "other others" as strangers and refugees. Whether one<br/>
invokes the current international preoccupation with border<br/>
control, or simply the ubiquitous suburban fence and alarm<br/>
system, it seems that hospitality always posits some kind of<br/>
limit upon where the other can trespass, and hence has a<br/>
tendency to be rather inhospitable. On the other hand, as well<br/>
as demanding some kind of mastery of house, country or nation,<br/>
there is a sense in which the notion of hospitality demands a<br/>
welcoming of whomever, or whatever, may be in need of that<br/>
hospitality. It follows from this that unconditional<br/>
hospitality, or we might say 'impossible' hospitality, hence<br/>
involves a relinquishing of judgement and control in regard to<br/>
who will receive that hospitality. In other words, hospitality<br/>
also requires non-mastery, and the abandoning of all claims to<br/>
property, or ownership. If that is the case, however, the<br/>
ongoing possibility of hospitality thereby becomes circumvented,<br/>
as there is no longer the possibility of hosting anyone, as<br/>
again, there is no ownership or control.<br/>
<blockquote<br/>
cite="mid:CANvRK-mJYGJPeb8WesxjhZSU56Zmje5hLmTFggJDEUMGrCD2dA@mail.gmail.com"<br/>
type="cite"><br/>
<div dir="ltr"><span><br/>
<p dir="ltr"<br/>
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><b<br/>
style="font-weight:normal"><br><br/>
</b></p><br/>
<p dir="ltr"<br/>
style="line-height:1.656;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue';color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">The challenges of working class immigrants integrating into American cities should not be generalized, but the remittance culture does imply a desire to return to one�s country of origin.</span></p><br/>
</span></div><br/>
</blockquote><br/>
Yes, I agree, who is integrated, who is welcomed-as a number of<br/>
participants on the list serv has pointed is about class<br/>
integration speeds and abilities in the new space.<br><br/>
<br><br/>
And yes, remittance culture is the call of home that one wants<br/>
to return to-to be "homeless" to produce or maintain "home" as a<br/>
possibility.<br><br/>
<blockquote<br/>
cite="mid:CANvRK-mJYGJPeb8WesxjhZSU56Zmje5hLmTFggJDEUMGrCD2dA@mail.gmail.com"<br/>
type="cite"><br/>
<div dir="ltr"><span><br/>
<p dir="ltr"<br/>
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><b<br/>
style="font-weight:normal"><br><br/>
</b></p><br/>
<p dir="ltr"<br/>
style="line-height:1.656;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue';color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">Grupo Union�s focussed goals in Boqueron seem key to navigating their many obstacles. The fragmentation of a life connected to disparate places is used as a tool for empowerment by establishing themselves in both cities and circulating the resources they have access to. </span></p><br/>
</span></div><br/>
</blockquote><br/>
By transversing the fantasy, the impossible, the field of dreams<br/>
(a baseball field) they do create agency in the fractalilty of<br/>
being "homeless."<br><br/>
<blockquote<br/>
cite="mid:CANvRK-mJYGJPeb8WesxjhZSU56Zmje5hLmTFggJDEUMGrCD2dA@mail.gmail.com"<br/>
type="cite"><br/>
<div dir="ltr"><span><br/>
<p dir="ltr"<br/>
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><b<br/>
style="font-weight:normal"><br><br/>
</b></p><br/>
<p dir="ltr"<br/>
style="line-height:1.656;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue';color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">It becomes problematic however, if the undocumented in Newburgh, as in many other places, are isolated or disconnected from their immediate environment. </span></p><br/>
</span></div><br/>
</blockquote><br/>
This is always/already the state of un-documented existences and<br/>
the always/already condition of networked cultures to some<br/>
degree.<br><br/>
The condition of virtual immigration states of being. <br><br/>
<blockquote<br/>
cite="mid:CANvRK-mJYGJPeb8WesxjhZSU56Zmje5hLmTFggJDEUMGrCD2dA@mail.gmail.com"<br/>
type="cite"><br/>
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<p dir="ltr"<br/>
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br><br/>
</p><br/>
</span><span><br/>
<p<br/>
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">Kindest<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
regards,</p><br/>
</span></div><br/>
</blockquote><br/>
Sorry for the long response, Alva.<br><br/>
<br><br/>
Very best,<br><br/>
Ricardo<br><br/>
<blockquote<br/>
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</p><br/>
<p<br/>
style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">Alva</p><br/>
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