Carceral Citizens

Labor and Confinement in Puerto Rico

Caroline M. Parker

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Hardback

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English

University of Chicago Press
10 February 2025

Archaeology by period & region

A nuanced take on how carceral expansions are changing labor and social life.

In Carceral Citizens, anthropologist Caroline M. Parker offers an ethnographic portrait of therapeutic communities in Puerto Rico, the oldest colony in the Americas. Non-profit entities nested within the carceral state, therapeutic communities serve as reeducation and recovery centers for mostly male drug offenders who serve out their sentences engaged in manual labor and prayer. The most surprising aspect of these centers, however, is that their ""graduates"" often stay there long after the completion of their terms, working as self-appointed counselors in a mixture of volunteer and low-wage positions.

Parker seeks to explain this fact by showing how, in these therapeutic communities, criminalized men find ways of carving out a meaningful existence. Through their participation in the day-to-day functioning of the centers, 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's colonial history, and with findings that extend across Latin America, Parker aims to challenge common assumptions about confinement, labor, and rehabilitation. By delving into lives shaped by the convergence of empire, the carceral state, and self-help, she offers a fresh understanding of the transformations of labor and social life brought about by mass incarceration.

By: Caroline M. Parker
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 23mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780226836218
ISBN 10: 0226836215
Pages: 168
Publication Date: 10 February 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction 1. The Economy of Penance 2. The Voluntary Face of the Carceral State 3. The Carceral Monastery 4. Crimeless Confinement Conclusion: An Exile’s Belonging Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index

Caroline M. Parker is a lecturer in anthropology at University College London.

Reviews for Carceral Citizens: Labor and Confinement in Puerto Rico

“A deep ethnographic and empathetic dive into the boredom—but hypersociality—of drug treatment and the second-class citizenship imposed by ongoing US colonization of Puerto Rico. Wonderfully accessible and amazingly erudite.” * Philippe Bourgois, author of In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio * “Parker’s observations are insightful, her interpretations incisive, and her prose elegant and engaging, raising critical issues about the intersections among incarceration, confinement, belonging, and rehabilitation.” * Jorge Duany, author of Puerto Rico: What Everyone Needs to Know *