Selected Work in Progress
Econ[ish]
Social Cooperation and Exclusion in Prisons.
[ Abstract ]
Over 11.5 million people are incarcerated globally, with the French prison system facing acute challenges such as overcrowding, poor conditions, and high recidivism. While prisons are meant to punish, deter, rehabilitate, and incapacitate, their reliance on isolation may undermine the social and psychological conditions necessary for reintegration. Despite their importance, these behavioral and psychological dimensions remain underexplored.
This thesis takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine how social exclusion and social identity affect cooperative behavior among incarcerated individuals. An original experiment was conducted in a French Maison Centrale, combining a public goods game, social inclusion priming, and qualitative interviews. The mixed 2×2 design includes a within-subjects manipulation of social identity (inmates play with in-group vs. out-group members) and a between-subjects priming task (inclusion vs. control). Semi-structured interviews followed to collect psychosocial data and to explore inmates' experiences of exclusion, identity, and belonging.
The findings challenge the notion of a unified "criminal brotherhood," as no significant ingroup bias was observed in cooperative behavior. However, social inclusion priming increased cooperation toward out-group members, suggesting that even minimal psychological interventions can foster prosociality toward the out-group. Exploratory analyses further highlight the negative impact of prolonged incarceration on trust and cooperation, aligning with emerging theories of institutionalized social exclusion.
Although constrained by sample size and the specificity of the setting, this research aims to provide novel insights into the psychosocial effects of incarceration. By illuminating the complex interplay between exclusion, identity, and cooperation, the thesis contributes to the broader goal of enhancing rehabilitation efforts.
Not-So-Econ
Salariés de l’illégalité : Reprise matérialiste de la question lumpen depuis le sous-prolétariat racisé.
[ Abstract ]
Philosophical Foundations: Racial Realism, Black Male Studies, and the Dehumanization of Black Men.
[ Abstract ]
Black Masculinity Under Surveillance: Fanon, Anti-Blackness, and the Global Dynamics of Mass Incarceration.
[ Abstract ]
This paper argues that mass incarceration constitutes not merely a crisis of criminal justice but an ontological apparatus for the management of Black masculinity under racial capitalism.
Philosophies et langues africaines, une introduction.
[ Abstract ]
