Adam Kluge

Criminology (2023 cohort)

My research exists at the critical intersection of stigma theory, prisoners’ families research, penal power, and the political economy of punishment. Drawing from the fields of political and social theory, my DPhil work offers a theoretical reconsideration of stigma as a political tool operated by state actors to systematically shame marginalised communities via criminal legal mechanisms. This project further contends that the role of prisoners' families can be mapped onto broader political arguments around social control, subjectivation, and state power, providing a novel consideration of the family as an active political subject. Furthermore, my work seeks to restore a sense of autonomy to those whose collateral experience of the carceral state constructs and disrupts their perceptions of society, citizenship, and self. Relying upon theoretical and ethnographic inquiry across the Global North, I am interested in exploring the following research questions: How are contemporary families deliberately stigmatised following the crime of a relative? When does the criminal legal process begin, and who can be considered a 'carceral citizen'? What is the relationship between stigma and neoliberal strategies of governance? Can a political conception of stigma produce a more inclusive sociology of punishment?

Prior to starting the DPhil in 2023, I completed the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Oxford, graduating with Distinction. My master’s dissertation was awarded the Routledge Prize for Best Dissertation in my graduating cohort. During my time in Oxford, I provided legal aid to refugees seeking asylum while incarcerated at HMP Huntercombe. In addition, I worked as a researcher supporting the local charity Children Heard and Seen and participated in the Europaeum Scholars Programme. I am also an active member and the Blog Editor for the Global Prisoners’ Families Research Network. I hold a dual BA in Political Science and History from Columbia University, where I graduated with interdepartmental honours and conducted research with the National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Vera Institute of Justice. My DPhil is generously supported by the ESRC and Lincoln’s Kingsgate Scholarship.