Posthumanist drifts for alternative research: an approach to resistance during incarceration

Abstract

Both studies on the living conditions of people deprived of liberty and research on experiences associated with imprisonment reveal the presence of a body that is institutionally violated and studied in a targeted manner. Since prison is not only a place of discipline, but also a stage for negotiating power, I propose a way of approaching acts of resistance during imprisonment based on the premise that the body persists in its being; that it affects and is affected by other entities and material forces. Highlighting the materiality of experiences of deprivation of liberty opens up a field of study that challenges the traditional understanding of the production of knowledge; in this way, I propose a post-qualitative approach that underlines the agency of matter, objects and non-humans in research, choosing to explore resistance from cartography. This work is not only an attempt to escape from an anthropocentric reading, it is also based on the importance of contributing to studies on imprisonment from critical self-reflection on the actions, roles and decisions of the researcher.