Hospitality typically involves social relations between people that take place in the private, social, and commercial domains. However – based on my ethnography with migrant food delivery workers - I propose that a new domain of mediated hospitality is needed to better understand experiences in a blended world.
Paper long abstract:
Hospitality typically involves social relations between people that take place in the private, social, and commercial domains. Recent scholarly attention suggests that hospitality provides a useful lens to explore the ways humans interact in virtual settings. However - based on ethnographic fieldwork with migrant food delivery workers in Brisbane, Australia - I propose that a new fourth domain of mediated hospitality is required to better understand how interactions take place in an increasingly blended world. Building on Carmargo’s (2003) concept of virtual hospitality, this approach is useful to better understand how food delivery workers experience processes like algorithmic management, surveillance tracking, digital reviews, and ‘contactless’ delivery. Such exchanges are mediated by a third party or object (human or non-human) and can take place online or offline (or both). However, I argue that all interactions begin and end with a relationship (or lack thereof) between humans – the core tenet of hospitality.