Unconditional hospitality in times of Covid-19: re-thinking social welfare provision for asylum seekers in Scotland through ethical vulnerability analysis

In this paper, we deploy a radical approach to vulnerability theory: ethical vulnerability analysis. This approach brings fuller vulnerability analysis as theorised by Fineman and Grear in conversation with Levinas and Derrida's radical vulnerability and the ethics of hospitality. We posit that ethical vulnerability analysis is firmly grounded in the realities of the everyday – the lived experience. We use ethical vulnerability analysis to investigate Scotland's responses to social welfare for asylum seekers and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on these social arrangements. Ethical vulnerability analysis: •Challenges the hostile premise of migration laws and policies. •Redefines relationships between 'guests' and 'hosts', which prompts a fundamental rethink of the host's response to the Other's vulnerability and dependency.