Law and Society Association Annual Meeting

Politics of The Body at The Crossroads

In 2022, the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, cases associated with the dawning of an era that ushered in social, economic, educational, and political change for women.  Specifically, the cases decriminalized abortion and protected reproductive autonomy.  Culturally, they were part of a revolution.  Rejecting nearly fifty years of precedent and social science research, the Supreme Court’s majority claimed that Roe was an egregious decision on par with infamous Plessy v. Ferguson decision, which legalized racial segregation and legitimized the notoriously violent period of suppression and violence known as Jim Crow. 

The Court’s rebuff of social and medical science and reliance on theories dating back centuries to colonialism, coverture, and slavery surprised many, but ultimately raised serious questions and concerns for law and society domestically and abroad.   Implicated are fundamental civil liberties and human rights, including the right to travel, freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom from involuntary servitude, and basic principles of equality. Most immediately, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org, flagged the vulnerable status of women, girls, and people with the capacity for pregnancy.  Yet, more generally, despite the end of colonialism, coverture, and chattel slavery, the ruling triggers social, legal, political, and ethical questions and concerns regarding human dignity and bodily autonomy.

For the 2025 Law and Society Annual meeting, among the fascinating papers and books that will be presented, we will explore questions central to control and compassion related to the human body ranging from reproductive justice and LGBTQ equality to disability rights and the death penalty.   Today, as conservative regimes gain footing across the world and come into political power, an urgency to unpack the politics of the body vis-à-vis state power comes into full view.