Thread by @ChrisVSteinert

Who is a political prisoner? I tackle this question in my forthcoming article at @Journal_of_GSS. Scholars define political prisoners either through a) prisoner's political motivations or b) state's political motivations. I suggest the latter approach is better. Why? 1/10 #PolSci

If we define political prisoners via prisoner's motivations, each politically motivated action ranging from right-wing extremism to jihadism would qualify a prisoner as political. Hence, we should focus on political biases of states. But how can we identify state biases? 2/10

We need to define explicit criteria for politically biased incarcerations. Only if we agree on a common benchmark for illegitimate deprivations of liberty, it is possible to make frequencies of political imprisonment comparable on a global scale. 3/10

The key assumption is that there are extra-state principles that limit legitimate state action. Since the specification of these principles cannot occur in an apolitical vacuum, the concept of political prisoners relies inherently on a normative premise. 4/10

Which principles should be used? I suggest that conceptualizations should align with the criteria of the @UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. So far, most academic definitions of political prisoners are disconnected from int. law. 5/10

Implication 1: Prisoners that are detained because of nonpolitical identities such as their sexual orientations qualify as political prisoners. Prisoner's political motivations are neither necessary nor sufficient to qualify imprisonment as political. 6/10

Implication 2: The classification as political prisoner does not entail a judgement of the moral legitimacy of prisoners' actions. Also violent individuals can be classified as political prisoners if they are victims of biased trials. 7/10

I also suggest a new typology of prisoners and a disaggregation of the concept of political prisoners based on criminalized actions. 8/10

I call for definitional clarity about political imprisonment. Research on gendered language and hate speech suggests that language can shape our understanding of the world. We must also sharpen our language when it comes to demands for political prisoners. 9/10

Thanks a lot to @Sabine_Carey, @janikaspannagel and @GESSuniMannheim for the excellent support of this project. 10/10 #FreeThemAll