Abstract

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in two detention centres, Poggioreale and Secondigliano in Naples, this article explores the prison careers of foreign inmates. The study proposes a typological model constructed on the basis of 1) the adaptation strategies developed by prisoners and 2) the factors of subjectivation exerted daily on foreign inmates. Based on the Foucauldian idea of "carceral continuum", the article begins by addressing the failure of the migration project, continues by studying how living conditions and relational practices develop and concludes by indicating the manner in which prison produces mechanisms of self-control and self-controlled subjects, who at times appear to be able to develop resistance strategies and exit perspectives.