Rosine Kelz

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Novel Natures?
Nature conservation and biotechnology

As Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the Center for Environmental and Technology Ethics (CETE-P), I explore debates about the use of novel biotechnologies in nature conservation, focusing on the example of engineered gene drives (GDs). A GD is an emerging biotechnology where a genetic element is transferred to offspring more frequently than possible under Mendelian inheritance. In theory, this technology greatly enhances the possibilities for the genetic modification of wildlife. GDs are proposed as powerful new tools for nature conservation, in particular for the eradication of invasive species. GDs could also be developed to enhance an endangered species’ ability to withstand environmental stressors or diseases. The possible use of GDs for biodiversity conservation purposes is highly contentious in the international conservation community.
My project intervenes in ethical and socio-political debates about the use of new biotechnologies in nature conservation and restoration by exploring two interconnected issues. First, I argue that ethical debate should not focus exclusively on promised outcomes of emerging technologies, because this assumes that they are value neutral tools and that scientific knowledge about prospective outcomes is uncontroversial. Instead, my project explores how advances in synthetic biology have shaped ideas about natural environments, non-human animals, and human agency. Assessing the risks of using biotechnologies 'in eco' highlights, however, that knowledge about complex biological and ecological systems and their potential interactions is limited and contested.
Second, I argue that debates about the use of biotechnologies for conservation purposes often hinge on underlying disagreements about the desirability of the conservation and restoration aims for which these technologies could be employed. My project will therefore explore recent discussions about the need for new conservation objects and strategies in the Anthropocene.
My aim is to provide greater conceptual clarity by exploring the interconnections between scientific knowledge claims, ontological, and normative ideas in nature conservation and restoration.

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Publications

Monograph:
• Kelz, R. (2016) The non-sovereign self, responsibility, and otherness: Hannah Arendt, Judith Butler, and Stanley Cavell on moral philosophy and political agency. London: Palgrave MacmillanEdited volume:
• Kelz, R. and Heger, T. (2024) Guest editor of Special Section “Nature conservation and new technologies” in journal Gaia. Ecological perspectives for science and society. 33 (1)Series editor:
• Book series Politik und Geschlecht and Politik und Geschlecht kompakt, Budrich (2022- 2024)Articles (peer-reviewed):
• Kelz, R. (2025) Disrupting the Anthropocene. Temporalities of Mourning and Care in the Postapocalyptic Present. Democratic Theory. 12 (2), pp. 83-104. DOI 10.3167/dt.2025.120205
• Rabitz, F. et al. (2024) Putting Gene Drives into Context. For special section “Nature conservation and new technologies”. Gaia. Ecological perspectives for science and society. 33 (1), pp. 165-169
• Montana, J. et al. (2024) From Novel Ecosystems to Novel Natures. For special section “Nature conservation and new technologies”. Gaia. Ecological perspectives for science and society. 33 (1), pp. 146-151
• Kelz, R. (2022) Tissue Culture and Biological Time – Alexis Carrel, Henri Bergson and the Plasticity of Living Matter. BioSocieties. 17 (3), 2: 442–460. DOI 10.1057/s41292-020-00224-2
• Kelz, R. and Knappe, H. (2021) Politics of time and mourning in the Anthropocene. Social Sciences. DOI 10.3390/socsci10100368
• Kelz, R. (2020) Genome editing animals and the promise of control in a (post)anthropocentric world. Body and Society. 26 (1): 3-25, DOI 10.1177/1357034X19882762
• Kelz, R. (2019) Thinking about future/democracy: towards a political theory of futurity. Sustainability Science. 14 (4): 905-913. DOI 10.1007/s11625-019-00697-6
• Kelz, R. (2015) Migration and Political Theory – Concepts of non-sovereignty and soli-darity. movements. Journal für kritische Migrations- und Grenzregimeforschung. 1 (2)
• Kelz, R. (2012) The non-sovereign self and limitations to self-ownership. Journal of
Intellectual History and Political Thought. 1 (1)Chapters in edited volumes (peer-reviewed):
• Kelz, R. (2022) Political Friendships to Come? – Futurity, Democracy, and Citizenship. In Collison, Tsagis, Fathaigh (eds.), Derrida's Politics of Friendship: Amity and Enmity, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 201-210
• Kelz, R., Knappe, H., Neupert-Doppler, A. (2022) Temporality and Democratic Sustain-ability. In Nanz, Knappe and Bornemann (eds.), Handbook of Democracy and Sustainability. Routledge, pp.107-120
• Kelz, R. (2021) The Ethics and Politics of Temporality: Judith Butler, Embodiment, and Narrativity. In Rae and Ingala Gomez (eds.), Historical Traces and Future Pathways of Poststructuralism: Aesthetics, Ethics, Politics, Routledge, pp.160-180
• Kelz, R. (2013) Anspruch auf Gemeinschaft. In Jähnert, Aleksander, Kriszio (eds.), Kol-lektivität nach der Subjektkritik. Geschlechtertheoretische Positionen, transcript publishers, pp.87-100

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Teaching

Planned 06/26 Lecture and seminar “Transitioning into an uncertain future: strategies and tools for nature conservation in a changing biosphere”, at Visegrad Environmental Philosophy Summer SchoolAt the University of Bremen:
MA Political Science and MA International Relations:
Spring 2024 Seminar: The Politics of Time: Global Perspectives in Social Theory
BA Political Science:
Spring 2024 Two Tutorials: Introduction to Political Theory (in German)
Winter 23/24 Seminar: Critical Theory (in German)
Seminar: Gender Politics (in German)
Spring 2023 Seminar: Animals, Nature, Environment, Matter – Theory beyond the Human (in German)
Seminar: Theories of Justice (in German)
Winter 22/23 Seminar: Introduction to Research in Political Science (in German)
Seminar: Foucault and (bio-)power (in German)
Spring 2022 Seminar: Environmental Political Theory
Seminar: Feminist Political Theory (in German)
Tutorial: Introduction to Political Theory (in German) and
Lecture: Simone de Beauvoir and feminist theory today* (filling in for one session for Prof. Nonhoff in Lecture Introduction to Political Theory, in German)At other universities:
Winter 20/21 Seminar: Poststructuralism (in German), MA Social Sciences, Humboldt University, Berlin
Spring 2020 Seminar: Social Theory and the Life Sciences (in German), BA Sociology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg
Fall 2017 Course (combines lecture with seminar): Biology and Society, Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Honours Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Spring 2016 Seminar: Introduction to Modern Social Theory, BA Sociology, Humboldt University, Berlin
Spring 2016 Seminar: Frankfurt School Critical Theory (in German), BA Politics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg
Fall 2015 Course: Social Theory, Research and Criticism, M.A. Program Critical Theory and the Arts, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
Fall 2012 Tutor for Political Sociology Core Paper, Pembroke College, University of Oxford