Demography and Degeneration: Eugenics and the Declining Birthrate in Twentieth Century Britain

TitleDemography and Degeneration: Eugenics and the Declining Birthrate in Twentieth Century Britain
Publication TypeBook
Year of Publication1990
AuthorsSoloway, Richard A.
Number of Pages464
PublisherUniversity of North Carolina Press
CityChapel Hill, NC
Abstract

Demography and Degeneration considers how differing scientific and pseudoscientific theories of biological inheritance became popularized and enmeshed in the prolonged, often contentious national debate about "race suicide" and "the dwindling family." Demographic statistics demonstrated that birthrates were declining among the better-educated, most successful classes while they remained high for the poorest, least-educated portion of the population. For many people steeped in the ideas of social Darwinism, eugenicist theories made this decline all the more alarming.... Although the organized eugenics movement remained small and elitist throughout most of its history, this study demonstrates how pervasive eugenic assumptions were in the middle and upper reaches of British society, at least until World War II. It also traces the important role of eugenics in the emergence of the modern family planning movement and the formulation of population policies in the interwar years. [Publisher]

URLhttps://uncpress.org/book/9780807845547/demography-and-degeneration/
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34200958

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