Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the strained conversation between migrants and pro-migrant activists on the potential and hazards of using popular ethnic foods to foster mutual understanding and promote acceptance by the predominantly xenophobic mainstream society in an emerging immigration state, Slovakia.

Paper long abstract:

In countries that self-identify as traditionally homogeneous, the appearance of restaurants offering dishes from different cuisines and cultural backgrounds is among the first visible tokens of commencing international immigration. These establishments are usually welcomed by locals, even in Slovakia, where the arrival of migrants is perceived predominantly as a threat: Politicians cater to the populations' anxieties, fueling xenophobic sentiments and fear of "foreign infiltration". The paper is based on fieldwork in a Bratislava-based NGO and their awareness-raising campaign titled "Cudzincov máme plné zuby", a provocative play with words that can be translated to "We are fed up with foreigners" as well as "We are being fed by foreigners". The project, which entailed the creation of a "foodie-map" of minority restaurants in Bratislava, takes Slovak appreciation of foreign foods as a starting point to negotiate the acceptance and belonging of the people who make it. This promotion of openness and community over food is juxtaposed with the experience of many foreigners of being barred from the local labor market and having to resort to unskilled, precarious and oftentimes irregular positions in gastronomic establishments, particularly those that are ethnically marked but do not intersect with their own origins, like Kebab stands and Indian restaurants. Describing how Slovaks and non-Slovaks interpret the multifarious symbolic dimensions of offering each other food, I explore the tensions between celebrating diversity, reifying difference and glossing over race- and class-based discrimination in an emerging immigration society.