- 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; Aldridge, Alexandra and Mechen, Ben. 2020. Pharmacosex: Reimagining Sex, Drugs and Enhancement. International Journal of Drug Policy, 86, 102943. ISSN 0955-3959
- 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 focuses on criminal law and criminal justice, sexuality, drugs, feminist and queer theory
My research interests include sex and sexuality, drug use and drug policy, criminal law and criminal justice, biotechnologies, bioethics and biopolitics, feminist and queer theory.
Over the past few years my work has focused on the intersections of cultures of drug use, sexual cultures, and the law. I recently 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, currently on view at the Museum of Sex in New York:
https://www.museumofsex.com/exhibitions/higher-love-the-psychedelic-roots-of-modern-sexuality/
I joined Goldsmiths from Royal Holloway, University of London, where I was Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Law. I have been a Visiting Scholar at the Onati International Institute for the Sociology of Law. I am an Associate Editor of the journal, Psychedelics.
Teaching and supervision
I warmly welcome enquiries about PhD supervision in any of my areas of specialism.
I have supervised or co-supervised PhDs 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.
Law
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 am particularly interested in the meanings we attach to sex-related drug use now and historically, intoxication, sobriety and the law, and the relationship between the effects of enhancement and repair.
My most recent completed project concerns the interaction between sexuality and psychedelics. This research examines how and why people use psychedelic drugs to manage sexual trauma (subjectively defined). Although psychedelics remain criminalised, they are increasingly hailed as effective mental health technologies. 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 indigenous 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. The work I have undertaken has received funding from British Academy/Leverhulme Trust and 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 have published widely on e.g. 'revenge pornography', 'extreme pornography', and 'chemsex'. 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, A; 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. 2022. Queering psychedelic erotics: Encounters with the inhuman and nonhuman. In: Alex Belser; Clancy Cavnar and Beatriz C. Labate, eds. Queering Psychedelics: From Oppression to Liberation in Psychedelic Medicine. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Synergetic Press. ISBN 9781957869032
- Defending Pornography: The Case Against Strategic Essentialism Dymock, Alex. 2020. Defending Pornography: The Case Against Strategic Essentialism. In: C. Ashford and A. Maine, eds. Research Handbook on Gender, Sexuality and the Law. Edward Elgar, pp. 484-496. ISBN 9781788111140
- 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, 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; 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.