‘Stuck in a Time Warp’ or ‘Going Forward With Care’? Traversing the Environmental Politics of Genetic Modification in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

This article offers an environmental politics history of genetic modification (GM) in Aotearoa New Zealand. GM has been on political agendas for half a century. It has again come to the fore with proposals to enable the technology after decades of stringent regulations. To better contextualise the major changes now in motion, this article traverses the evolution of GM politics in Aotearoa. We identify five key eras of GM politics, drawing on a database of social science literature and media and policy documents spanning the 1970s to today. This history is often sidelined in contemporary debates; however, we argue that engaging with past controversies, and the wealth of social science and humanities scholarship that analyses it, is vital if we are to progress democratic and informed debate about GM. This history underscores that GM is a political issue, not just a technical one, requiring concerted attention to the purposes and terms by which GM is utilised. We trace five consistent threads across the complex history of GM, including the dominance of narrow economically‐driven and technocratic decision‐making, the marginalisation of Māori rights and the importance of public deliberation for navigating the significant questions of justice, rights and responsibility at stake.