Dr. David Knight

Biography

David J. Knight is an Assistant Professor of Black Studies and Sociology at Yale University, affiliated with the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School. A political sociologist, Knight investigates how communities impacted by mass incarceration mobilize in response to the carceral state. His interdisciplinary research spans carceral studies and social movements, public health, and emphasizes the lived experiences of Black communities. Knight's published work utilizes data from in-depth interviews and large-scale experiments to explore themes such as the 'carceral passages' of Black boys and men, the long-term effects of housing vouchers on residential mobility and voter participation among largely Black female and Latina heads of households. He aims to deepen the reparations debate by encouraging social scientists to consider the harms of the carceral state, advocating for reparations for victims of police torture. Knight's ongoing projects include a major study on local health equity interventions in response to the 2020 protests against police violence and a lab focused on documenting the politically contested nature of the prison state. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2022.

Research Interests