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The History of Eugenics

Eugenics, as James noted in his lecture, is dead. However, for a period in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, it was a relatively popular discipline. What was eugenics? Why did the discipline rise and fall? What, if any, impact has its History had on academia, institutions, or society more broadly? And, fundamentally, what happens to the currents of thought that underpin a discipline when that discipline dies?

Over to you all...

Introduction to Eugenics

Eugenics derives from the Greek word eugenes, that can be translated to mean "good in birth". The term was coined by Francis Galton in 1883, half-cousin of Charles Darwin, who was influenced by Social Darwinism and believed that Eugenics was required to give “the more suitable races or strains of blood a better chance of prevailing speedily over the less suitable”. It rose to popularity at a time of great scientific advancement (such as the emerging discipline of genetics), however it was still a time when social prejudice undermined scientific objectivity, leading to such conclusions.

Eugenics aimed to improve the human race, by eliminating undesirable qualities and enhancing desirable ones. Francis Galton listed the following qualities based on which the best models of a particular class can be differentiated and identified — "health, energy, ability, manliness, and courteous disposition."

Eugenics was a discipline that was studied to enhance humans through artificial selection, with people with desirable characteristics and traits asked to reproduce more, and consequently reduce population with diseases or disabilities. It was enforced through 'sterilisation', preventing humans with 'undesirable characteristics' from mating. Further undesirable characteristics in the discipline of Eugenics included but were not limited to: criminal tendencies, homosexuality, race and disability as they were thought to be hereditary.

Eugenics in the 20th century

Sterilisation, or differentiation based on eugenics criteria, was first introduced to the law by the United States of America in 1896, and continued to be practised legally until the Supreme Court overturned the various legislations in 1927 in the Buck v. Bell case. However by then, it had pervaded the European mindset and Adolf Hitler's cabinet passed an Eugenics Sterilisation Law in 1933 which went beyond the American tactics or intentions. On the basis of Eugenics, the Nazi movement proclaimed superiority of the Aryan race.The Nazi sterilisation programs ran without Jewish discrimination for years. It was not until Hitler's proclaimed hatred for Jews worsened that Nazi's racial and eugenics practice began. The downfall of Germany paired with the heinousness of Nazi policies elicited an anti-eugenic reaction from around the world, stigmatising the discipline entirely. It was heavily criticised and its multiple theories were disproved.

In 1896, in Connecticut, USA, marriages became illegal for people with mental illnesses, epilepsy. There were several sterilization programs in different states of America in the 20th century.

University College London and Eugenics

UCL developed the first laboratory and centre for the newly born discipline of Eugenics which was spearheaded by Francis Galton and Karl Pearson. Although Galton was neither a professor nor a student at the university, his monetary contributions helped establish the First Chair of Eugenics and consequently started the first department in the world that studied Eugenics as a discipline.

UCL faced criticism regarding its ties to Eugenics when it was revealed that the London Conference on Intelligence (LCI), a conference for research on Eugenics and other similar controversial topics, was hosted on UCL campus on multiple occasions in an investigation conducted by London Student in 2018. The conferences were hosted by James Thompson, a honorary psychology lecturer at UCL at the time. In response, UCL stated they were unaware of the content discussed in the conferences or the speakers involved and launched an investigation into their room booking process. However, this controversy sparked further discussion about UCL’s historical links with Eugenics such as its ties with Galton. In response, on the 5th of December, 2018, Professor Iyiola Solanke lead inquiry into the institution's historical and current associations with Eugenics, which was published on the 28th of February, 2020. UCL also took further action on the 19th of June, 2020, when they removed the names of prominent eugenicists like Galton and Pearson from its properties, including the Galton Lecture Theatre (now named Lecture Theatre 115), the Pearson Building (now named North-West Wing) and the Pearson Lecture Theatre (now named Lecture Theatre G22). Pearson was the first holder of the Galton Chair of Eugenics.

Historical Impact on Academia, Institutions and Society

Eugenics was formalized as an academic discipline to learn about and research forward on at multiple colleges and universities and its field received funding to further its research. The founder of Eugenics that developed its name is Francis Galton. He established a laboratory to further research in the discipline at University College London. Many other prestigious universities including Oxford, Cambridge, and Glasgow had places in the Eugenics Education Society which was a society that included campaigns for forced sterilizations and martial restrictions.

There was a lot of distress in the society as their rights were taken away as a result of Eugenic ideology. A Government Accountability Office investigation in 1976 in the United States says that 25 to 50 percent of American citizens were sterilized in a 6 year period and a few sterilizations occurred without consent of the individual during medical procedures for a different surgery such as an appendectomy. Sterilizations were also forced through denying health care for living children until their mothers would provide consent for sterilization. This resulted in distress by being forced to do something they do not properly consent to. Another impact on society would be the consequence of less financial problems during an economic crisis as families had less members to fend for. Additionally, there was the development of a class system of superior and inferior people and this resulted in the increase in abuse of power. Furthermore, racial bias developing due to Eugenic ideology formed a difference in the availability of quality education for different classes and races due to budgeting higher for superior class education as it was determined as more important due to Eugenic ideology.

Impact of the Discipline's Existence

Only as the discipline existed for a period, its consequences of its practice and impacts in the short and long term are known. If the discipline did not exist, then there would be many proposals prompting Eugenic ideology to be implemented because of its main purpose of enhancing human life. After the discipline died, it is known of the effects it had in developing a class system and holding racial bias, however, these consequences were not known at the start of the discipline. These negative impacts on the society were caused without prediction of its possibility, and due to the discipline's existence, educators know of such consequences and do not revive the discipline. The existence of the discipline also started the ideology of the importance and value of individual human rights as society could witness the extreme of not having said rights. Due to experiencing forced sterilization and consequent discrimination, individual human rights became valued important, leading to the development of many movements for human rights and the development of a Human Rights Committee in the United Nations.

The Fall of Eugenic Ideology

Between the first and the second world war, Eugenics was criticized based on scientific discovery as eugenics guided segregation of class and instigated racial bias. Through further research, it was discovered that many mental disabilities, which were considered as 'undesirable characteristics' in the discipline of Eugenics, had no relation to genes and were not hereditary in nature. It was also studied as there was a growth into the field of Neuroscience and Psychology, that multiple tendencies exhibiting criminal behaviour or any 'undesirable' behaviour is not definitely the consequence of genes or biological hereditary, but is attributed to environmental factors that a child grows up in. Eugenics was also criticized based on social perspectives against Hitler's concentration camps, as they gained awareness that the Holocaust was a result of Eugenic ideology.

Human rights became very important that it resulted in the United Nations developing a Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and later establishing a Human Rights Committee in 1976. From the opportunity of the recognition of the importance of human rights and the awareness of its importance, multiple movements by the public took place which were against forced sterilization and eugenic ideology and strived for women's rights and the freedom of reproduction. With these movements and recognition, there was a shift in ideology and priorities towards individual human rights being more important and more valuable, consequently guiding that individual human rights hold priority in any knowledge production or research about humans and medical genetics.