Projects & Outputs

Abstract

Given the expansive range of cultural, historical, and ecological contexts conjured up by de-extinction, the aim of this double special issue (the second half of which will be published next year) is to trace the parameters of “species revival” in an array of locales and across a variety of scientific and artistic sites where the meaning of “reviving” an extinct species is still hotly contested. We see “species revival” as a term that requires careful unpacking to assess its feasibility, moral and ethical stakes, and impact on culture, conservation, technoscientific development, and Indigenous-settler relations (particularly those inclusive of Traditional Ecological Knowledge frameworks that regard ecological restoration as essential for reparation and meeting responsibilities to more-than-human relations). Our overarching approach to both issues then is to closely examine technoscientific methods of de-extinction (cloning, gene editing, and back-breeding) alongside long-standing or emerging species conservation initiatives like rewilding, cryobanking, or assisted migration. Further to this, we are also setting the stage for a broad but nevertheless comprehensive analysis of “species revival” as an artistic and cultural engagement with the science of copying, mixing, and restoring species and ecosystems. As such, we explore how de-extinction is co-constituted by an uneasy alliance of artistic and scientific modes of experimentation.