Libertà religiosa tra diritto, discriminazione e spazio morale: etnografia di un carcere femminile portoghese

Today, the prison is a highly diversified place of religious belief. This phenomenon reflects globalization and the impact that migration has on the socio-cultural and spiritual composition of the contemporary European city. Based on this premise, this work highlights the articulation between secularism and religious pluralism within the prison space; a space characterized by a morally judgmental and restrictive approach to subjectivity and individual initiative. This ethnography will therefore shed light on the mechanisms through which the religiosity of the women incarcerated in the Portuguese prison under study is mostly perceived by the prison staff as «incorrect». These women are mainly considered subjects incapable of civic and moral rehabilitation. Consequently, religion becomes an anomaly that reinforces prejudices, mistrust, and clichés about prisoners, threatening in practice their religious rights.