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How carceral expansions are changing labour and social life. In Carceral Citizens, anthropologist Caroline offers an ethnographic portrait of therapeutic communities in Puerto Rico, the oldest colony in the Americas. As nonprofits nested within the carceral state, therapeutic communities serve as reeducation and recovery centres for the mostly male drug offenders who serve out their sentences engaged in manual labour and prayer. The most surprising aspect of these centres, however, is that their 鈥済raduates鈥� often remain long after the completion of their term, working as self-appointed peer counsellors in a mixture of volunteer and low-wage positions.

听The seminar seeks to explain this dynamic by showing how, in these therapeutic communities, criminalized men find new and meaningful ways of living in the shadow of the prison. Through their participation in the day-to-day functioning of the centres, they discover and cultivate alternative forms of belonging, livelihood, and citizenship, despite living within the restrictions of the carceral state. Situating her study against the backdrop of Puerto Rico鈥檚 colonial history, and with findings that extend across Latin America, Parker challenges common assumptions about confinement, labour, and rehabilitation. By delving into lives shaped by the convergence of imperialism, the carceral state, and self-help, she offers a fresh understanding of the transformations of labour and social life brought about by mass incarceration.

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