International Eugenics Essay -- Genetics

Throughout the history of international relations, the study of human diversity has held a key role in establishing the political principles and recognized shared culture that defines nationhood. Nations have traditionally been associated with a specific geographic location and political ideology, but they also have ethnical identifiers associated with this shared culture. These ethnical identifiers were thrust onto the world stage during the end of the nineteenth century with the introduction of the study of eugenics. The purpose of this study is to examine the historiography of the eugenics movement as it occurred globally, providing a comparative survey of programs, legislation and ideologies in multiple nation settings. In order to provide a global comparative study of international eugenic programs and ideologies, several disciplines will be followed, focusing on four major terms used to delineate eugenics, â€Å"population, quality, territory, and nation.† Although eugenics has been seriously examined by historians since the 1960’s, international comparisons are a recent addition to the field of research, emerging near the end of the twentieth century. Even as these comparative studies become more popular, the majority of this research focuses on eugenics in Britain, Germany, and the United States. For these reasons, this study will attempt to highlight the movement outside of the Western world only drawing on their historiography as precedence throughout the global community. In 1963, Mark H. Haller published Eugenics: Hereditarian Attitudes in American Thought. As the first major history of American eugenics, Haller encapsulated the movement and only hinted at the biological doctrines of the Nazi’s and Soviet Union. Haller... ..., G. R. Eugenics and Politics in Britain, 1900-1914. (Leyden: Noordhoff International Publishing, 1976), 4. Adams, Mark B. The Wellborn Science: Eugenics in Germany, France, Brazil, and Russia. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), 25. Adams, Mark B. The Wellborn Science: Eugenics in Germany, France, Brazil, and Russia. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), 25. Francesco Cassata, Building a New Man: Eugenics, Racial Sciences and Genetics in Twentieth Century Italy. (New York: Central European University Press, 2011), 147-155. Stepan, Nancy. The Hour of Eugenics: Race, Gender, and Nation in Latin America. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991), 4. Broberg, Gunnar, and Nils Roll-Hansen. Eugenics and the Welfare State: Sterilization Policy in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1996), 2.