Summary Kwartiermaken - Doortje Kal
Translation by Laurence Ranson
Kwartiermaken - workingin on hospitality in the society for people with a psychiatric background
Originally a term meaning the preparation of a camp (or 'quarters') for troops, the word kwartiermaken is her used metaphorically to refer to a process of preparation of institutions and individuals for the integration of former psychiatric patients into the community. Kwartiermaken is also the name of a project in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands, which aims to prepare institutions and individuals for the integration of former psychiatric patients into their midst.
(...) One must be aware that, on the one hand, the ‘other’ is dependant on an offer of hospitality and, on the other hand, that by welcoming the ‘other’, the host society must also be prepared to become somewhat ‘other’ itself. These two phrases form the central theme of this book. The offering of hospitality calls for a suspension of the norm of ‘normality’. If the house is not maintained, the meeting cannot take place. The house must be made ready to receive its guests: the thresholds must be removed. Not just once, but repeatedly, because there is a constant threat of alienation and exclusion. Moreover, the offering of a place to ‘one I cannot offer a place to’ is a question of endeavour, a question of falling down and picking oneself back up again. The offer of hospitality is a risky business. It brings with it a tension which cannot be wished away. I have searched for a conceptual framework which could assist in making this tension manageable.