Becca Zimmerman

Working Title of MPhil: Political Participation in the Carceral State: The Implementation of the Scottish Elections Act and Implications for Political Engagement in Prisons

Year commenced M.Phil study: 2021                     

Institution/Organisation: University of Strathclyde                              

Full or part-time: Full Time

 Supervisors: Dr. Laura Piacentini, Dr. Beth Weaver

 Synopsis of MPhil:

Becca’s study will explore the capacity for, and meaning of, political participation among imprisoned persons through a case study of the Election (Franchise and Representation) Act’s implementation and the lead-up to the 2022 local government elections. Using interviews and an abolitionist framework, her study will explore the significance and meaning of voting rights to imprisoned persons; the extent to which prisoners are willing, able, and empowered to engage with elections, politics and other forms of civic participation; successes and barriers encountered in the Act’s rollout; and the complex identities associated with citizenship in the Scottish carceral space.

Recent publications

Zimmerman, R. (2021). Neither Post-War Nor Post-Pregnancy Paranoia: How America’s War on Drugs Continues to Perpetuate Disparate Incarceration Outcomes for Pregnant, Substance-Involved Offenders(Pitzer Senior Theses) [Pitzer College]. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/pitzer_theses/122