Queer prisoners in the heteronormative system: Resistance and political agency in prison

The study examines the experiences of queer prisoners, who are subject to dual social marginalization due to their sexual orientation and gender identity as well as their confinement, in terms of their political agency. The prison, which has emerged as a modern institution within the historical development of penal systems, is a space of confinement characterized by the perpetual operation of surveillance and control over the bodies it encloses. In this regard, prison is primarily a disciplinary institution for the incarcerated, confiscating their personal time and space. However, when the experience of incarceration is handled as a part of the prisoners' lifespan, this institutional apparatus becomes a living space that can be formed through individual or collective practices. With the claim that prison is not only a discipline and domination mechanism but also a living space, this study focuses on the potential of queer prisoners' practices to transform their conditions. Accordingly, it analyses the life histories, correspondences, and interviews of queer prisoners, which provide their personal accounts of incarceration. Thus, it reveals that queer prisoners can create their distinctive lifestyles and resistance practices through temporal and spatial interventions and performative practices they carry out under carceral circumstances. In conclusion, this study argues that queer prisoners create and sustain their political agency by remaining in disagreement and contestation with the institutional and societal processes.