Using Speculative Fiction to Imagine Queer Abolition Real Utopias
Kayleigh Charlton
TL;DR
This article uses speculative fiction to imagine queer-friendly alternatives to prison systems for marginalized LGBTQ+ communities.
Contribution
It introduces three speculative fiction stories that center LGBTQ+ experiences in abolitionist utopias.
Findings
Speculative fiction can be a tool to explore queer abolitionist alternatives to prison.
The stories highlight how LGBTQ+ characters navigate challenges through these utopian systems.
The approach centers marginalized voices in reimagining justice systems.
Abstract
This article uses speculative fiction as a method for exploring the potentialities of queer abolition utopias. Abolition utopias aim to strike a balance of hope and need, offering innovative alternatives to prison while also addressing the current penal and social realities of marginalised groups. Queer abolition utopias, informed by the literature in queer criminology, centres the experiences of LGBTQ + people in these innovative alternatives. This article presents 3 pieces of short speculative fiction (1) Finding Harmony House, (2) Glasgow East Community Forum, (3) Our Long weekend at Leuchars Lodge. All 3 stories centre an LGBTQ + character(s) who are facing a particular challenge or challenges in their life, and how said alternatives might play a role in their moving forward.
Genes, proteins, chemicals, diseases, species, mutations and cell lines named across the full text — each resolved to its canonical identifier and authoritative record.
Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
Taxonomy
TopicsCriminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy