Degradation ceremonies and the boundaries of citizenship

• In Event: Foreign nationals in the criminal justice system

Abstract

Drawing on a year of courtroom ethnography in an Italian criminal court, the paper describes how judicial practices directed at non-citizens account for real degradation ceremonies. These ceremonies are highly symbolic: on the one hand, they communicate that non-citizens are intrinsically deviant and inferior; on the other, they reinforce group identity and cohesion. By relying on instances of everyday justice, the paper sheds light on the value and the privilege of membership in criminal courts. The paper concludes with the implications of these developments for procedural justice and the legitimacy of the criminal justice system directed at non-citizens.

Author

• Eleonora Di Molfetta, University of Milano-Bicocca