L'Ombre du monde. Une anthropologie de la condition carcérale

Éditions du Seuil has published L'Ombre du monde. Une anthropologie de la condition carcérale (2015) by Didier Fassin, James D. Wolfensohn Professor in the School of Social Science. Fassin conducted a four-year-long ethnographic study of prison life and the politics of punishment in an effort to understand the experiences of those who are incarcerated. Following inmates from their immediate appearance trial to their release, he analyzes the day-to-day aspects of life in prison. He shows how the widespread use of imprisonment has reinforced social and racial inequalities, as well as how advances in civil rights clash with the rationales and practices used to maintain law and order. Fassin also analyzes the concerns and compromises of the correctional staff, the hardships and resistance of the inmates, and the ways in which life on the inside intersects with life on the outside.