“He’s got more felonies than I do!” Patriotic cynicism among formerly incarcerated people in the return of Trump’s America

• In Event: Contemporary Issues in Courts and Punishment

Abstract

Research on the impact of incarceration on civic engagement and trust in the state is strikingly mixed. On the one hand, incarceration might erode civic engagement and undermine political participation. On the other, it might spur people compelled to endure penal harm into political action. Some studies have even found that incarceration has no impact on civic and community engagement. As the U.S. navigates unprecedented political waters during Donald Trump’s second presidential term, research on civic engagement is both timely and urgent, especially as it pertains to populations that are systematically stripped of their political and socioeconomic power. Drawing on 40+ in-depth interviews (beginning soon after Trump’s election in November 2024), I explore formerly incarcerated people’s views on what it means to be an American. My findings animate and clarify mixed quantitative findings on the relationship between incarceration and civic identity/engagement. I show that seemingly incomprehensible contradictions in formerly incarcerated peoples’ narratives about America can be reconciled using the concept of patriotic cynicism. This concept, I argue, captures participants’ mistrust in the government as well as the force of nationalistic ideologies about freedom and choice—even among those who have been deprived of these ideals.

Author

• Janani Umamaheswar, George Mason University