In 1883, Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, coined the
word "eugenics" to express his dream of perfecting the human race
by applying the laws of genetic heredity. Adapting Darwin's theory
of evolution to human society, eugenics soon became a powerful,
international movement, committed to using the principles of
heredity and statistics to encourage healthy and discourage
unhealthy reproduction. Early in the twentieth century and across
the world, doctors, social reformers, and politicians turned to the
new science of eugenics as a means to improve and strengthen their
populations. Eugenics advocates claimed their methods would result
in healthier, fitter babies and would dramatically limit human
suffering. The reality was a different story. In the name of
scientific progress and of human improvement, eugenicists targeted
the weak and the sick, triggering coercive legislation on issues as
disparate as race, gender, immigration, euthanasia, abortion,
sterilization, intelligence, mental illness, and disease control.
Nationalists eagerly embraced eugenics as a means to legitimize
their countries' superiority and racialized assumptions, and the
Nazis notoriously used eugenics to shape their "final solution." In
this lucid volume, Philippa Levine tackles the intricate and
controversial history of eugenics, masterfully synthesizing the
enormous range of policies and experiments carried out in the name
of eugenics around the world throughout the twentieth century. She
questions the widespread belief that eugenics disappeared after
World War II and evaluates the impact of eugenics on current
reproductive and genetic sciences. Charting the development of such
controversial practices as artificial insemination, sperm donation,
and population control, this book offers a powerful,
extraordinarily timely reflection on the frequent interplay between
genetics and ethics. Eugenics may no longer be a household word,
but we feel its effects even today.
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