B168536

76-016957

4223

eng

1.1 NHS

Equalities and Inequalities in Health, Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual Symposium of the Eugenics Society, London 1975

edited by C O Carter and John Peel

Academic Press, 1976, London

x, 170 pages, 23.6 x 15.7 x 1.7 cm

This book, published in 1975, is the product of a British non-profit organisation called the Eugenics Society. Eugenics, a term coined by Francis Galton in 1883, can be described by other terms, such as social Darwinism and biological racism. The core ideas of this philosophy revolve around the practice of removing undesirable traits from the human race by way of selective breeding. Despite gaining popularity in Britian in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, eugenics has been practised in different contexts throughout history, such as in Ancient Greece. In his work Republic, the Greek Philosopher Plato suggested that reproduction be placed under the control of ‘special officers’, limited to take place within a particular age range, and to be done through a lottery that meant ‘outstanding’ individuals were to be favoured, while the offspring of others were to be removed. According to a later philosopher, Plutarch, a similar but less detailed system was in fact used in Ancient Sparta, in which all offspring were to be inspected by a council. Any carrying physical characteristics seen as imperfect were allegedly killed by being abaondoned on a mountain or thrown off it, although the lack of contemporary accounts or archaeological evidence has cast some doubt on this practice.

While being comparatively free from violence, the 19th century resurrection of eugenicist ideas was assisted by the theory of natural selection introduced by Charles Darwin, who was half-cousins with Francis Galton. Despite the protestations of Darwin himself, Galton took it upon himself to expand his ideas of hereditary human characteristics, and eugenics would go on to become a widespread philosophy discussed in many circles, including schools and universities.

At its most basic definition, the advocacy of improving the quality of life of future offspring by way of removing disease and disabilities may sound like a noble cause, but the methods required in order to achieve such a goal prove to be incredibly sinister. ‘Undesirable’ characteristics were frequently attributed to entire races, not individuals, therefore supporting ideas of racial supremacy, such as those advocated by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in their attempt to create a perfect Aryan race by way of removing ‘undesirable’ racial groups through genocide.

The Eugenics Society, which has since been renamed the Adelphi Genetics Forum, campaigned in the 1920s and 1930s to legalise the sterilisation of those with mental health conditions and physical disabilities. While the parliamentary bills the society’s members submitted to the House of Commons only suggested the sterilisation of voluntary subjects, or those admitted through the consent of their guardians, records from within the society make it clear that their intentions were to completely prevent the reproducing of 'mental defectives', referring to them with terms such as ‘degenerate’ and ‘feeble-minded’. Among its members who supported such damaging ideas and language were notable politicians such as Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill, as well as many prominent scientists and doctors.

The society continues to operate today, but now rejects the ideas of ‘coercive eugenics’ and clarifies that such ideas have no place in modern society. A former president of the society also made the statement that Francis Galton was a 'terrible racist', but oddly said afterwards that 'is it reasonable to honour him by giving his name to institutions like the one I now run'. Despite the name of Galton still being praised in various ways, his philosophy of eugenics is now widely recognised for its racist, ableist, and classist language and ideas on genetics and reproduction.

Alexander Walker, Hidden Histories MA Project Participant

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Eugenics (Categories)