‘It is a strange realism, but it is a strange reality.’ – Ursula Le Guin.

I am a sociologist and writer of fiction and poetry. These practices are not as distinct as they may at first seem, as all involve curiosity, research, observation, and imagination.

Currently, I am researching and writing about responses to social harm, imagined futures, utopia, and cultural representations of justice issues. I am strongly influenced by feminist, abolitionist, and post-structuralist thought, and think of theory and practice as entangled and mutually enriching. Some of the questions I am currently exploring in my research and teaching are:

How can reading and writing fiction help us imagine and enact more just futures?

How can we do research with participants that is more collaborative and less extractive?

How do cultural representations shape, express, or challenge our complex feelings about crime and justice?

Teaching:

Since 2022 I have been a Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Stirling and have previously taught at the London Contemporary Dance School, the University of Glasgow, and Goldsmiths, University of London among other places. My students at Stirling make a podcast about crime and justice, and art and culture called Just Images.

Research:

From 2021-2022 I held an Independent Scholar Fellowship funded by the Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF). My project was called Prison Break: Imagining Alternatives to Prison in the UK. You can read more about it here. From 2017-2021 I worked as the Research Associate on Distant Voices, an ESCR and AHRC-funded project.

Writing:

SCCJR profile, Academia.edu profile, I previously published as Philippa Thomas and Phil Thomas.