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‘Symposium on Adorno’s “Sexual Taboos and Law Today” – Sixty Years On’, held at the University of Warwick and on Zoom on 25 February 2023

This symposium was dedicated to Theodor W. Adorno’s essay ‘Sexual Taboos and Law Today’ and its contemporary relevance. It brought together junior and senior scholars from the fields of legal studies, psychoanalysis, pedagogics, social theory, and philosophy to revisit Adorno's controversial essay in times of #MeToo, identity politics, and heightened public concern for gender equality and transgender right.

The event was divided into three thematic panels and a roundtable discussion. Each panel engaged with one key dimension of Adorno’s text and its relevance today. Panel 1, composed of Prof. Christine Kirchhoff (IPU Berlin) and Prof. Julia König (University of Mainz), approached the text in light of recent developments in psychoanalysis; Panel 2, composed of Dr Marcel Stötzler (Bangor University) and Craig Reeves (Birkbeck), read Adorno’s essay in light of current research in social theory and sociology; Panel 3, composed of Prof. Nicola Lacey (LSE) and Dr Iris Dankemeyer, reflected on Adorno’s essay in light of recent transformations in the legal sphere and legal theory. The roundtable discussion, in which all speakers, with the exception of Prof. Lacey, participated, enabled all scholars to engage in detail with each other’s arguments and to reflect on the value of Adorno’s contribution.

Throughout this symposium – and, particularly, during the concluding roundtable discussion – it became clear that, rather than being outdated, Adorno’s reflections are still thought-provoking and productive. This was particularly evident in the context of the current punitive turn in legal theory and praxis, recent discourses of queer and transgender identities, and, more generally, the acute and challenging task, faced by scholars of legal and social theory, philosophy and psychoanalysis alike, to theorise desire in contemporary society.

List of papers and speakers:

• Christine Kirchhoff (International Psychoanalytic University, Berlin): Sexual Taboos and Law Today? Reflections from the Perspective of Psychoanalysis
• Julia König (University of Mainz): Reflections on the ‘Minors-Complex’ in Adorno’s ‘Sexual Taboos and Law Today’ and in Current Moral Panics

• Marcel Stoetzler (Bangor University): Law, Lust, and Otherness in the Society of Total Domination: On Adorno’s Essay ‘Sexual Taboos and Law Today’
• Craig Reeves (Birkbeck): Persecution, Punishment, and the Potential for Freedom: Reactualising Adorno's Critical Moral Psychology

• Iris Dankemeyer (University of Art and Design, Halle): Presumption of Innocence: On the Topicality of Adorno's Lines of Inquiry in 'Sexual Taboos and Law Today'
• Nicola Lacey (LSE): A Feminist Criminal Lawyer’s Retrospective on Adorno’s Text

The symposium was a great success. All six invited speakers gave original papers that were met with lively discussions. The interdisciplinary character of the event was particularly productive, and we were excited to witness fruitful scholarly exchange across disciplinary boundaries. The roundtable session at the end provided a good opportunity for speakers and the audience to reflect on the symposium’s theme.  

The results of this conference will be published – together with some additional contributions on Adorno’s essay ‘Sexual Taboos and Law Today’ – in a special issue of the Journal of Adorno Studies, a key journal within the field of critical theory research. This special issue will be edited by the conference organisers, Simon Gansinger and Antonia Hofstätter.

The symposium was attended by 30 people in person and 25 people online (excluding the organisers). Of these 55, fewer than 20 were affiliated with the University of Warwick, where the conference was held. At least 5 members of the general public came to Coventry from other parts of the UK (Oxford, London). Several online participants joined the meeting from mainland Europe and the US. Roughly half of in-person participants were postgraduate students (we cannot give a reliable number for online participants). Half of the in-person participants joined the conference dinner, which testifies to the great interest among audience members. 

The generous support by the HRC has been acknowledged on our website: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/philosophy/news/conference/adorno/