- Acid Feminism: Gender, psychonautics and the politics of consciousness Dymock, Alex . 2023. Acid Feminism: Gender, psychonautics and the politics of consciousness. The Sociological Review, 71(4), pp. 817-838. ISSN 0038-0261
- Pharmacosex: Reimagining Sex, Drugs and Enhancement Moyle, Leah; Dymock, Alex ORCID logo
- Guest Editors' Introduction: Queer Theory and Criminology Lamble, Sarah; Serisiers, Tanya; Dymock, Alex ; Carr, Nicola; Downes, Julia; and Boukli, Avi. 2020. Guest Editors' Introduction: Queer Theory and Criminology. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 20(5), pp. 504-509. ISSN 1748-8958
- A dish served cold: targeting revenge in revenge pornography Dymock, Alex ; and Van Der Westhuizen, Charlotte. 2019. A dish served cold: targeting revenge in revenge pornography. Legal Studies, 39(3), pp. 361-377. ISSN 0261-3875
- Anti-communal, Anti-egalitarian, Anti-nurturing, Anti-loving: Sex and the 'Irredeemable' in Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon Dymock, Alex . 2018. Anti-communal, Anti-egalitarian, Anti-nurturing, Anti-loving: Sex and the 'Irredeemable' in Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon. Paragraph, 41(3), pp. 349-363. ISSN 0264-8334
- Prurience, punishment and the image: Reading ‘law-and-order pornography’ Dymock, Alex . 2017. Prurience, punishment and the image: Reading ‘law-and-order pornography’. Theoretical Criminology, 21(2), pp. 209-224. ISSN 1362-4806
- The Erotics of Injury: Remembering Operation Spanner Workshops 10th - 11th September 2015, University of Essex and Royal Holloway, University of London Dymock, Alex ; and Lodder, Matt. 2016. The Erotics of Injury: Remembering Operation Spanner Workshops 10th - 11th September 2015, University of Essex and Royal Holloway, University of London. Porn Studies, 3(3), pp. 320-323. ISSN 2326-8743
- Towards a Consent Culture: An Interview with Kitty Stryker Dymock, Alex . 2014. Towards a Consent Culture: An Interview with Kitty Stryker. INSEP - Journal of the International Network of Sexual Ethics and Politics, 2(1), pp. 75-91. ISSN 2196-6931
- Flogging sexual transgression: Interrogating the costs of the 'Fifty Shades Effect' Dymock, Alex . 2013. Flogging sexual transgression: Interrogating the costs of the 'Fifty Shades Effect'. Sexualities, 16(8), pp. 880-895. ISSN 1363-4607
- Unmastered: A Book on Desire, Most Difficult to Tell Dymock, Alex . 2013. Unmastered: A Book on Desire, Most Difficult to Tell. Journal of the International Network of Sexual Ethics and Politics, 1(1), pp. 91-93. ISSN 2196-6931
- But femsub is broken too!: On the normalisation of BDSM and the problem of pleasure Dymock, Alex . 2012. But femsub is broken too!: On the normalisation of BDSM and the problem of pleasure. Psychology and Sexuality, 3(1), pp. 54-68. ISSN 1941-9899
Dr Alex Dymock
Staff details
Alex's research expertise lies in criminal law and criminal justice, sexuality, drugs, feminist and queer theory
I joined Goldsmiths in 2019 from Royal Holloway, University of London.
My research focuses on bodily practices at the edge of legality, particularly sex and drugs. I am interested in law's insistence that we contort these practices to its logics, often at the expense of our health, agency, and pleasure. Undoing some of those logics is at the heart of all my work.
I teach primarily in the areas of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, and Gender, Sexuality and the Law, and also enjoy teaching Torts.
Teaching and supervision
I warmly welcome enquiries about PhD supervision, especially on topics related to sex, drugs, health, and criminal law and criminal justice.
I have supervised or co-supervised three PhDs to completion, and contributed to the supervision of several more on a wide range of topics, including on the criminalisation of young people who 'sext'; HIV medicine use in Nigeria; sexual ethics, drugs and consent; pornography consumption and trangression; and the biopolitics of PrEP reluctance.
My current PhD students are:
Adebola Adeoti - 'Sexual Violence and international Law in Nigeria' (Department ofLaw PhD Scholarship)
Fabio Murelli Rosa 'The Online Contexts for Chemsex' (SENSS funded)
Research interests
My current principal interests are sexual cultures, cultures of drug use, the intersections between the two, and their interaction in public health and criminal justice.
I have recently been awarded UKRI funding from Innovate UK to develop a robust evaluation framework to improve London chemsex services, and am working in collaboration with alcohol & drug and sexual health services. Before this, I completed a British Academy/Leverhulme Trust project investigating the 'underground' use of psychedelics to manage sexual trauma in the context of a rapidly shifting legal landscape around these substances. I've also guest-curated an exhibition on sex and psychedelics, recently on view at the Museum of Sex in New York:
https://www.museumofsex.com/exhibitions/higher-love-the-psychedelic-roots-of-modern-sexuality/
I am particularly interested in how people relate their experiences with these substances in the context of 'underground' use to other knowledge paradigms, such as therapeutic and psychiatric apparatuses, and first nation knowledges and cultures. I am also interested in the multiple forms the loosening of legal control of psychedelics in other jurisdictions is taking, and how these forms relate to broader politics of drug controls. My more recent work on psychedelics builds on a previous Wellcome Trust-funded project on 'pharmacosexuality' (https://pharmacosexuality.wordpress.com/) (2018-2020), which examined the meanings attached historically and contemporarily to 'drugged sex', and the role illicit drugs have played in shaping contemporary sexual cultures and sexual identities.
I also maintain longer term interests in substantive criminal law, and new criminal-legal developments and processes of criminalisation in the area of sexuality and sexual representations. I am currently developing some work on the potential of omissions-based approaches to liability for sex-related offences.
Grants and awards
2021:
The Sexual Politics of the Psychedelic Renaissance
British Academy/Leverhulme Trust Small Research Grant
2018:
Pharmacosexuality: The Past, Present and Future of Sex on Drugs
Wellcome Trust Seed Award in the Humanities and Social Sciences
2022:
Gender in online drug purchasing
SLSA Impact Grant
Publications and research outputs
Edited Journal
- Psychedelic Humanities Dyck, E; Dymock, Alex ; Davis, O; Langlitz, N; Schlag, A K; and Noorani, T, eds. 2023. Psychedelic Humanities, Frontiers in Psychology, . 1664-1078
- Special Issue: Queer Theory and Criminology Lamble, Sarah; Serisier, Tanya; Dymock, Alex ; Carr, Nicola; Downes, Julia; and Boukli, Avi, eds. 2020. Special Issue: Queer Theory and Criminology, Criminology & Criminal Justice, 20(5). 1748-8958
Book Section
- Queering psychedelic erotics: Encounters with the inhuman and nonhuman Dymock, Alex ORCID logo
- Defending Pornography: The Case Against Strategic Essentialism Dymock, Alex ORCID logo
- A Doubling of the Offence?: 'Extreme' Pornography and Cultural Harm Dymock, Alex . 2018. A Doubling of the Offence?: 'Extreme' Pornography and Cultural Harm. In: Avi Boukli and Justin Kotze, eds. Zemiology. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 165-182. ISBN 9783319763118
Article
- Sex and Psychedelics: A Wide-Lens Look at a Burgeoning Field Dymock, Alex ; and Dubus, Zoe. 2025. Sex and Psychedelics: A Wide-Lens Look at a Burgeoning Field. Medical Humanities, 51(2), pp. 197-201. ISSN 1468-215X
- Editorial: Psychedelic Humanities Noorani, Tehseen; Davis, Oliver; Dymock, Alex ; Langlitz, Nicolas; Schlag, Anne K; and Dyck, Erika. 2024. Editorial: Psychedelic Humanities. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 147406. ISSN 1664-1078
- The Techno–Barbie Speaks Back: Experiments with Gendered Hormones Lim, Bryan ; Christianson, Adam ; Nicholls, Emily Jay ; Aldridge, Alexandra; and Dymock, Alex . 2023. The Techno–Barbie Speaks Back: Experiments with Gendered Hormones. Paragraph: The Journal of Modern Critical Theory, 46(1), pp. 30-45. ISSN 0264-8334
Conference or Workshop Item
- Is Consent Good for Women? A Feminist Symposium on Consent Culture Cefai, Sarah ; Dymock, Alex ; and Serisier, Tanya. 2022. 'Is Consent Good for Women? A Feminist Symposium on Consent Culture'. In: Is Consent Good for Women? A Feminist Symposium on Consent Culture. Birkbeck, University of London, United Kingdom 17 June 2022.
Report
- Conducting sexualities research: an outline of emergent issues and case studies from ten Wellcome-funded projects Kneale, Dylan; French, Robert; Spandler, Helen; Young, Ingrid; Purcell, Carrie; Boden, Zoë; Brown, Steven D.; Callwood, Dan; Carr, Sarah; Dymock, Alex ; +13 more...Eastham, Rachael; Gabb, Jacqui; Henley, Josie; Jones, Charlotte; McDermott, Elizabeth; Mkhwanazi, Nolwazi; Ravenhill, James; Reavey, Paula; Scott, Rachel; Smith, Clarissa; Smith, Matthew; Thomas, James; and Tingay, Karen. 2019. Conducting sexualities research: an outline of emergent issues and case studies from ten Wellcome-funded projects. Discussion Paper. Wellcome Open Research.
Professional projects
I am a member of the Drug Science Medical Psychedelics Working Group, a Trustee of the Gay Men's Health Collective, and sit on the Harm Reduction Sub-Group of the London Chemsex Steering Group. I am an Associate Editor of the journal, Psychedelics.