Synopses & Reviews
"
Eugenic Nation is a masterful work that offers a bold and provocative argument about the impact of eugenics on California and the nation as a whole. Stern's analyses of US-Mexico immigration policy and 'eugenic landscapes' are particularly innovative and will surely change how subsequent scholars approach these topics."and#151;Molly Ladd-Taylor, author of
Mother-Work: Women, Child Welfare and the State, 1890-1930"At long last a book about eugenics in California, which sterilized more people than any other state. Eugenic Nation reveals what fueled the movement, including Hispanic immigration, fear of disease, and environmental preservation. In all, an important and thought-provoking book."and#151;Daniel J. Kevles, author of In the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity
"Stern brilliantly exposes the dark role that the Golden State played as a leader in the closely-linked eugenics and early conservation movements. By demonstrating how theory became practice in California's institutions and laws, and how those ideas persist today, she reveals the survival of demons we thought we had vanquished."and#151;Gray A. Brechin, author of Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin
"Eugenic Nation examines the science of 'better breeding' in the American West, revealing the intimate relations of race science, gender, sexuality, and population policy in the twentieth century. With this important book, Stern transforms our understanding of eugenics in the US."and#151;Warwick Anderson, author of The Cultivation of Whiteness: Science, Health, and Racial Destiny in Australia
Synopsis
Many people assume that eugenics all but disappeared with the fall of Nazism, but as this sweeping history demonstrates, the idea of better breeding had a wide and surprising reach in the United States throughout the twentieth century. With an original emphasis on the American West,
Eugenic Nation brings to light many little-known factsand#151;for example, that one-third of the involuntary sterilizations in this country occurred in California between 1909 and 1979and#151;as it explores the influence of eugenics on phenomena as varied as race-based intelligence tests, school segregation, tropical medicine, the Border Patrol, and the environmental movement.
Eugenic Nation begins in the 1900s, when influential California eugenicists molded an extensive agenda of better breeding for the rest of the country. The book traces hereditarian theories of sex and gender to the culture of conformity of the 1950s and moves to the 1960s, arguing that the liberation movements of that decade emerged in part as a challenge to policies and practices informed by eugenics.
Synopsis
First edition, Winner of the Arthur Viseltear Award, American Public Health Association With an emphasis on the American West, Eugenic Nation explores the long and unsettled history of eugenics in the United States. This expanded second edition includes shocking details that demonstrate that the story is far from over. Alexandra Minna Stern explores the unauthorized sterilization of female inmates in California state prisons and ongoing reparations for North Carolina victims of sterilization, as well as the topics of race-based intelligence tests, school segregation, the U.S. Border Patrol, tropical medicine, the environmental movement, and opposition to better breeding.
Radically new and relevant, this edition draws from recently uncovered historical records to demonstrate patterns of racial bias in Californiaand#8217;s sterilization program and to recover personal experiences of reproductive injustice. Stern connects the eugenic past to the genomic present with attention to the ethical and social implications of emerging genetic technologies.
About the Author
Alexandra Minna Stern is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American Culture, History, and Womenand#8217;s Studies at the University of Michigan. She codirects the Reproductive Justice Program at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender and is a core faculty member in the Science, Technology, and Society Program.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations\
Introduction
1. Race Betterment and Tropical Medicine in Imperial San Francisco
2. Quarantine and Eugenic Gatekeeping on the U.S.-Mexican Border
3. Instituting Eugenics in California
4. Californiaand#8217;s Eugenic Landscapes
5. Centering Eugenics on the Family
6. Contesting Hereditarianism: Reassessing the 1960s
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index