Hour of Eugenics (Revised)

Eugenics was a term coined in 1883 to name the scientific and social theory that advocated "race improvement" through selective human breeding. In Europe and the United States the eugenics movement found many supporters before it was finally discredited by its association with the racist ideology of Nazi Germany. Examining for the first time how eugenics was taken up by scientists and social reformers in Latin America, Nancy Leys Stepan compares the eugenics movements in Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina with the more familiar cases of Britain, the United States, and Germany. In this highly original account, Stepan sheds new light on the role of science in reformulating the problems of race, gender, reproduction, and public health in a time of intensified searching for new national identities. Drawing upon a rich body of evidence concerning the technical publications and professional meetings of Latin American eugenists, she traces a vibrant picture of how they adapted eugenic principles to their varying local contexts between the world wars. Stepan demonstrates that the eugenists of Latin America diverged considerably from their counterparts in Britain and the United States in their ideological approaches and their interpretations of key texts concerning heredity. "The Hour of Eugenics" raises crucial questions about the relationship between social and cultural identity and the nature of scientific discourse. It will be essential reading for historians of science and medicine, Latin Americanists, and others interested in cultural history and women's history.