The Imaginary Queer Prison: The Possibilities and Limitations of ‘Queering’ the Prison

: (Alternative Format Thesis)

Abstract

Over the last few years, we have seen an increasing number of calls for LGBTQ+ informed approaches or entire LGBTQ+ units or prisons in the UK, and internationally. However, there is a dearth of literature on the experiences of LGBTQ+ people in prison, therefore, what exactly these prisons would be guided by, is unclear. Furthermore, in the wake of anti-carceral critiques of other attempts to build new and ‘improved’ prison buildings, i.e., gender-sensitive or ‘green’ prisons, we should also ask critical questions about the role LGBTQ+ units or prisons might play in carceral expansion. This thesis is, therefore, a timely and interdisciplinary exploration of the concept: ‘the imaginary queer prison’. This thesis is about (re)imagining and critically engaging with a version of the prison system that is guided by literature in fields such as queer and trans geography, queer criminology, and abolition feminism. Underpinned by the common thread of reflexivity and a commitment to centring the lives and experiences of LGBTQ+ people, this thesis is presented as a series of individual but connected papers. The first article presents a series of autoethnographic and socio-spatial reflections about safety in queer spaces; the second focusses on the emotional and ethical challenges of letter-writing as a method of data collection with prisoners; the third presents an article about LGBTQ+ pains of imprisonment, which was developed through a letter writing study; and the final article is about imagining queer abolition utopias through speculative fiction. The thesis offers reflections on the contextual and fluid nature of safety in queer spaces, the bullying and discrimination facing LGBTQ+ prisoners in the women’s prison estate and the way speculative fiction can be used as an abolitionist tool for (re)imagining non-penal alternatives for LGBTQ+ social issues. Together, the thesis presents two versions of ‘the imaginary queer prison’: first, HMP Ennis, a literal LGBTQ+ prison presented from a combination of findings from an autoethnography of queer spaces and a letter-writing study with LGBTQ+ prisoners. The second pushes the field of queer criminology into more critical territory, demanding the centring of abolition, creativity and a queer imagining through a series of fictional vignettes that demonstrate the possibilities for non-penal solutions to LGBTQ+ issues.

Date of Award	26 Mar 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bath
Supervisor	Fran Amery (Supervisor) & Yvonne Jewkes (Supervisor)