"Incorrigible drinker", "impulsive and violent", "mentally ill", "insults staff". These are just some of the dismissive terms found in the files of residents of a retirement home in the latter half of the 20th century. Through her research, the author reveals a series of outlandish, real-life stories that chronicle the processes of social exclusion at work at the time.
Mathilde Rossigneux-Méheust is a lecturer at the University of Lyon 2. A specialist in the history of the working classes, social protection and disciplinary institutions in modern times, she is the author of Vies d'hospices. Vieillir et mourir en institution au XIXe siècle (Champ Vallon, 2018).