Embodied overcrowding and sensory tensions: A carceral autoethnography of Philippine jails

Abstract

In this paper, I undertake a sensorially oriented autoethnography of two Philippine jails, illuminating the visceral textures of carceral life that conventional sociological or criminological discourses often overlook. Drawing inspiration from Jewkes and Young's (2021) examination of Kyoto Prison, I foreground the overlapping realms of sight, sound, smell, and touch, arguing that incarceration is inherently a profoundly embodied phenomenon. By weaving personal reflections, field observations, and broader scholarly insights, I reveal how overcrowded dormitories, suffocating heat, and lingering bodily odours converge to redefine detainees' spatial, temporal, and psychosocial realities in ways rarely captured by quantitative metrics. While mindful of Nelken's (2009) caution against ethnocentrism and simplistic cross-cultural comparisons, I situate this Philippine context within a global conversation on punitive confinement, underscoring the urgent need for sensorially attuned research, policy, and praxis. Ultimately, this paper advocates for a radical reconsideration of punishment's sensory dimensions in the pursuit of more humane (if ever possible) penal landscapes.