Skip Navigation



Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society Advance Access published online on February 21, 2006
Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, doi:10.1093/sp/jxj001
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
13/1/59    most recent
jxj001v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gerodetti, N.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Article

From Science to Social Technology: Eugenics and Politics in Twentieth-Century Switzerland

Natalia Gerodetti 1 *

1 Research fellow at the University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Natalia Gerodetti, E-mail: Natalia.Gerodetti{at}unil.ch


  Abstract

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.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.