Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society Advance Access originally published online on February 21, 2006
Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society 2006 13(1):59-88; doi:10.1093/sp/jxj001
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From Science to Social Technology: Eugenics and Politics in Twentieth-Century Switzerland
Natalia Gerodetti is a research fellow at the University of Lausanne.
Correspondence: To whom correspondence should be addressed; Institut d’Etudes Politiques et Internationales (IEPI), UNIL—Bâtiment Provence, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland; Tel.: ++41 21 692 3200; Fax: ++41 21 692 3205; Email: Natalia.Gerodetti{at}unil.ch.
During the first half of the twentieth century, eugenics became a mainstream approach to the solution of social problems across Europe and North America. Perceived to be part of these social problems, sexuality and gender non-conformity constituted a threat to the social order. In this context, eugenics became an approach and a tool to rationalize the management of sexuality. The article examines how practices and discourses of sexuality, gender, and ideas about normalcy intersected with particular fears and anxieties about nation and degeneracy, thereby giving rise to the use of eugenics as a social technology. The connections between eugenics and politics are explored through the Swiss experience with eugenically based social policies and policy debates.