The history of ideas is marked by changes created by people moving to new lands and sharing knowledge, re-invigorating the way we look at the world. Like the word “immigrant,” borders and barriers against migration are newer things. With them come constructions like national identity, linked to how we talk about those who live within borders and those who live outside them. We see two mentalities that respond to flowing populations manifested over time: fear of the stranger (xenophobia) and love of the stranger (xenophilia). Hospitality, as an ethic shared by cultures all over the world, is raised as a possible answer to the permanence of mobility.
