RT Book
T1 Eugenics and Protestant social reform: hereditary science and religion in America 1860-1940
A1 Durst, Dennis L.
LA English
PP Eugene, Oregon
PB Pickwick Publications
YR 2017
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/895988615
AB The eugenics movement prior to the Second World War gave voice to the desire of many social reformers to promote good births and prevent bad births. Two sources of cultural authority in this period, science and religion, often found common cause in the promotion of eugenics. The rhetoric of biology and theology blended in strange ways through a common framework known as degeneration theory. Degeneration, a core concept of the eugenics movement, served as a key conceptual nexus between theological and scientific reflection on heredity among Protestant intellectuals and social reformers in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. Elite efforts at social control of the allegedly "unfit" took the form of negative eugenics. This included marriage restrictions and even sterilization for many who were identified as having a suspect heredity. Speculations on heredity were deployed in identifying the feeble-minded, hereditary criminals, hereditary alcoholics, and racial minorities as presumed hindrances to the progress of civilization. A few social reformers trained in biology, anthropology, criminology, and theology eventually raised objections to the eugenics movement. Still, many thousands of citizens on the margins were labeled as defectives and suffered human rights violations during this turbulent time of social change. --
NO Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-201)
CN HQ751
SN 9781532605772
SN 9781532605796
K1 Eugenics : Moral and ethical aspects
K1 Sterilization (Birth control) : Religious aspects
K1 Medical Ethics
K1 Social Darwinism
K1 Religion and science : History : 19th century
K1 Religion and science : History : 20th century
K1 Eugenics : United States : History
K1 Eugenics
K1 Moral and ethical aspects
K1 United States
K1 History
K1 Religion and science
K1 19th Century
K1 20th Century
K1 Sterilization (Birth control)
K1 Religious Aspects
K1 1800-1999