Introducing “Hospicareity”: Repositioning hospitality as an embedded care virtue within extreme environments

Despite a longstanding historical relationship, the connection between hospitality and care remains underdeveloped in extreme contexts. In response, we introduce “hospi care ity,” a conceptual innovation which places “care” at the literal center of the word “hospitality” to illuminate their fundamental interconnectedness. Drawing on Tronto's ethic of care cycle, we explore a Ukrainian military leader's experience building and leading a pioneering care unit for soldiers returning from Russian captivity. Hospi care ity repositions hospitality not as a service act but as an embedded care virtue that is cultivated through attentiveness, relational responsibility, and ongoing human connection. The goal of this research note is to inspire and encourage scholarship that examines hospitality as a transformative social force. Ultimately, we advance the claim that to engage fully in hospitality is to enact care, a possibility too often unrealised within an industry still marked by the inequalities and power structures of carelessness.