Lydia Pelot-Hobbs

Lydia Pelot-Hobbs is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Kentucky, with affiliations in African American and Africana Studies, Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies, and Social Theory. Her research examines carceral geography, racial capitalism, and social movements, focusing on the dialectics of carceral state formations, abolitionist activism, and the Gulf South region.

Education includes:

• PhD in Geography with certificate in American Studies from The Graduate Center, CUNY (2019)
• MS in Urban Studies from University of New Orleans (2011)
• BA in Comparative American Studies and English (majors), History (minor) from Oberlin College (2007)

Her research investigates how carceral state power reinforces racist and patriarchal logics, justifying disinvestment in public care during crises. She explores abolition democracy through grassroots organizing, emphasizing Louisiana's role in mass incarceration and its connection to oil economies and tourism capitalism. Central to this work is ethnographic engagement with movements contesting carceral systems.

Publications consistently focus on mass incarceration, racial capitalism, and abolitionist struggles in Louisiana, employing frameworks from Black geographies and feminist theory. Recent works analyze disaster politics, petrochemical industries, and coalition-building strategies against criminalization.

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