Legacies of Eugenics is a project that brings a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives to bear on the task of exposing and contesting the continued viability and affirmative reemergence of eugenic ideas in contemporary health sciences, human biotechnology, public health, and medicine. Eugenics is the idea that the worth of individuals and groups is tied to their biology and is heritable; science and medicine, from this perspective, should be used to promote the reproduction of the “best” humans – typically thought to be those who are White, able-bodied, and well-resourced. At the same time, eugenics seeks to restrict the reproduction of those thought to be “unfit”: racial and ethnic minorities, poor people, and people with disabilities, as part of a broader effort to eliminate them from the population. While eugenics is often defined by the atrocities of Nazi Germany or remembered as a fringe idea that disappeared after World War II, early 20th century eugenic beliefs were central to mainstream science and medicine of the day. To be sure, eugenic ideas have been “baked in” to many of these fields’ foundational principles. This culinary perspective has not received the attention that it needs. Legacies of Eugenics aims to address this.
Eugenics’ presence in higher education plays a crucial role in the origins of this convening, which was initially conceived in the wake of Professor Osagie Obasogie's discovery of a eugenics research fund at the University of California, Berkeley. These funds have now been redesignated to support anti-eugenics efforts that explore how eugenics has shaped scientific inquiry. The first phase of this work is a collection of essays published in the Los Angeles Review of Books by leading scholars who have thought deeply and written widely on these matters and their meaning for reproductive, disability, and racial justice, as well as human rights.
These essays highlight the extent to which eugenics is not just in the past. Recent headlines have covered topics that touch upon race, reproduction, and democracy in ways that demonstrate eugenics’ ongoing influence, such as growing right-wing espousal of the “great replacement theory,” increasing investment in AI-assisted reprogenetic technologies, and new interest in pro-natalism among Silicon Valley’s billionaire elites. During the same period, use of the word “eugenics” in news and commentaries has skyrocketed, applied to everything from abortion debates to COVID preparedness.
For most people, these developments seem random, disjointed, and disconnected. What’s missing are in-depth explorations of the continuities among the social and political moments giving rise to the eugenics of yesterday and modern arrangements in science, medicine, and technology that often quietly retain many of the same early 20th century goals and perspectives in ways that make contemporary articulations of eugenics appear rational, unproblematic, and at times downright patriotic. The Legacies of Eugenics conference makes these connections with the goal of halting eugenics’ resurgence and normalization while promoting a vision for science, medicine, and technology that emphasizes the inclusion and health promotion of all people. We hope that you can join us.