Dr Luca Follis SFHEA
Senior LecturerProfile
Luca Follis holds a B.A. in English Textual Studies (minor in African American Studies) from Syracuse University. He also holds a B.A. (Magna cum Laude) in Sociology and Mass Communication, Broadcast & Journalism from the University of New Mexico. He received his M.A. (with Honours) in Sociology from the New School for Social Research and holds a PhD in Sociology (with Honours) from the New School for Social Research. His PhD dissertation: "Ordering Penal Space: New York State Prison Governance in 19th Century America" received the Albert Solomon Memorial Award in Sociology from the New School. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Research Overview
I am a political sociologist and Senior Lecturer in Law & Society in the Law Department. My work explores the intersection of law, power, technology and resistance.
My past research focused on how democratic orders rationalize and legitimate their (often dehumanizing) incarceration regimes and the sort of normative contradictions and legal confrontations that are staged when prisoners actively challenge these representations. My current research tracks emergent transformations in the UK carceral landscape as well as the impact of networked technology on the articulation and exercise of state power.
Ongoing projects include: technology in prisons, digital exclusion and societal acceleration; the financialization of parole and probation structures in the US and UK; and the eclipse of hacktivism and the rise of state hacking.
Current Teaching
I contribute lectures to CRIM 102 (Intro to Criminology and Criminal Justice), CRIM 205 (Criminological Thought), CRIM 219 (Cybercrime and Cybercriminality), and CRIM 404 (Crime and Criminal Justice in the 21st Century). I also convene and contribute to CRIM 406 (Criminologies of Violence).
I also teach:
CRIM 335. Prisons, Punishment and Society
CRIM 342. Crimes of Power
PhD Supervision Interests
Dr Follis welcomes potential doctoral students in the areas of: legal sociology, transnational crime, human rights, prisons, cybercrime and capital punishment.
Protecting Democracy from Outside Interference
19/02/2020 → …
Research
Doctors within borders: caring for mobile populations in contemporary health systems
01/11/2019 → 30/09/2021
Research
Doctors within Borders: Networking Initiative on Mobile Populations in Contemporary Health Systems
01/10/2019 → 30/09/2021
Research
Hacktivism and the State
21/10/2015 → 17/10/2017
Other
- Centre for Law and Society
- Security Lancaster (Policy, Law and Ethics)