On the possibility of engaged ethnography in prison

The state responded brutally to lockdown protests in Italian prisons soon after Italy announced its first national Covid‐19 lockdown. This article affirms the need for prison ethnographies, exploring ethical and methodological directions to research what is potentially a violent environment. However, within a prison context devoted to secrecy and suspicion, this research focuses on mundane fieldwork topics ‘other than violence';namely, everyday life in prison (such as food, health and spirituality). Such a focus allows us to develop cultural intimacy in formal institutions while preserving political engagement.