I am a postdoctoral researcher in political theory and philosophy. Currently, I lead a project on sustainable political institutions at the Research Group for Political Theory and Philosophy at FU Berlin, funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation. Previously, I was Claus Wisser Postdoctoral Fellow at the Normative Orders Research Center at Goethe University Frankfurt. In February 2025, I defended my PhD thesis on the concept of interests in social and political theory at TU Darmstadt, where I also worked as a research associate from 2020 to 2024.
My research examines how future generations and non-human beings can be represented in our political institutions. Both of these groups are voiceless – they are among the most affected by the growing ecological crisis, yet excluded from present decision-making processes. In my project, I explore how we can build institutions in which the voiceless are given a voice.
Besides sustainable political institutions and the concept of interests, my work also engages with intergenerational and inter-species justice, theories of well-being, the role of human nature in political philosophy, utopianism, and the normative foundations of social critique. My research has been published in venues such as Political Philosophy, Free & Equal, and The Journal of Ethics.
Book
Forth. Objektive Interessen. Zur Neukonzeption eines gesellschaftswissenschaftlichen Grundbegriffs. Frankfurt/New York: Campus.
Journal Articles
Forth. Naturalizing Nussbaum: A Revised Capabilitarian Conception of Human Interests. Social Theory and Practice.
2026. Economic Democracy for the Voiceless. Free & Equal: A Journal of Ethics and Public Affairs 2 (1): 61–90. doi: 10.16995/fe.23916.
2025. Intergenerational Domination. The Journal of Ethics 29 (3): 417–442. doi: 10.1007/s10892-024-09498-1.
2024. Against Negativism: Why Critical Theory Should Appeal to the Good. Political Philosophy 1 (1): 105–127. doi: 10.16995/pp.15311.
2023. Trivially Satisfied Desires: A Problem for Desire-Satisfaction Theories of Well-Being. Utilitas 35 (4): 277–291. doi: 10.1017/S0953820823000183.
2021. Politische Anthropologie und Anthropologiekritik. Der Platz des Menschen im politischen Denken heute. Zeitschrift für Politik 2021 (4): 406–422. doi: 10.5771/0044-3360-2021-4-406 (with Dirk Jörke).
Book Chapter
2025. Menschliche Natur und gutes Leben: Martha Nussbaums neoaristotelische politische Anthropologie. In Politische Anthropologie in der Philosophie der Antike (Topics in Ancient Philosophy), eds. Christian Kietzmann & Dagmar Kiesel, 253–269. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Review
2024. Review: Nussbaum, Martha. Gerechtigkeit für Tiere. Zeitschrift für philosophische Literatur 12 (1): 30–40. doi: 10.21827/zfphl.12.1.41149.
Miscellaneous
2025. Blog post: Intergenerational Domination, New Work in Philosophy, https://newworkinphilosophy.substack.com/p/luca-hemmerich-goethe-university.
2024. Blog post: Against Negativism: Why Critical Theory Should Appeal to the Good, New Work in Philosophy, https://newworkinphilosophy.substack.com/p/luca-hemmerich-tu-darmstadt-against.
2023. Blog post: Saving the Needs. Critical Theory Network Debate Forum, https://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/interventions/saving-the-needs/, revised and translated version ‘Ein Plädoyer für die Rettung der Bedürfnisse’ in Theorieblog: https://www.theorieblog.de/index.php/2023/09/ein-plaedoyer-fuer-die-rettung-der-beduerfnisse/ (with Christoph Henning, Dirk Jörke, and Katharina Liesenberg).
2021. Mietentscheid Frankfurt: Direktdemokratisch für mehr bezahlbaren Wohnraum. In Frankfurt am Main – eine Stadt für alle? Konfliktfelder, Orte und soziale Kämpfe, eds. Johanna Betz et al., 383–392. Bielefeld: Transcript (with Lisa Hahn).
Academic Positions
09/2025 – FU Berlin, Research Associate (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter/Eigene Stelle), Research Group for Political Theory and Philosophy, Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science, Project ‘Institutions for Voiceless Groups’ (grant from the Fritz Thyssen Foundation)
10/2024 – 07/2025 Goethe University Frankfurt, Claus Wisser Postdoctoral Fellow, Normative Orders Research Center
04/2020 – 09/2024 TU Darmstadt, Research Associate (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter), Research Group for Political Theory and History of Ideas, Institute of Political Science
Education
04/2020 – 02/2025 TU Darmstadt, PhD in Political Theory, dissertation title: “Interessen. Eine objektivistische Neukonzeption” [‘Interests. An Objectivist Reconception’]
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Dirk Jörke (TU Darmstadt) & Prof. Dr. Bernd Ladwig (FU Berlin), with distinction (summa cum laude)
10/2016 – 02/2020 Goethe University Frankfurt & TU Darmstadt, Political Theory (M.A.), with distinction
10/2013 – 09/2016 Bielefeld University, Social Sciences, Mathematics, and Education Studies (B.A.)
Research Visits
03/2026 – 04/2026 Universitat de Barcelona, Visiting Researcher, invited by Prof. Iñigo González-Ricoy
01/2023 – 03/2023 Lancaster University, Visiting Researcher, invited by Prof. Andrew Sayer
10/2022 – 12/2022 University of Oxford, Visiting Researcher, invited by Prof. David Leopold
08/2017 – 12/2017 The New School for Social Research, Visiting Student