María Fernanda Díaz Vidal

Working Title of PhD: Penal policies in the context of a democratic political deliberation in Chile

Year commenced PhD study: 2021

Institution/Organisation: University of Edinburgh

Funding Source (if any): National Agency for Research and Development (ANID for its name in Spanish)

Full or part-time: Full-time

PhD Supervisors: Prof. Richard Sparks and Dr. Oliver Escobar.

Synopsis of PhD

The research goals is to explore the opportunities that deliberative democratic theory and practices can create for Chilean penal politics, and if it can help to develop more inclusive and legitimate responses to problems about crime and punishment. In order to do so, I wish to use what is known as  ‘democratic innovations’ hoping to opening a space for deliberation between citizens in specific neighbourhoods in Chile. Specifically, I expect to assess the dynamics of that deliberation through observation and in-depth interviews to the participants.