Eugenics was a term coined in 1883 to name the scientific and social theory which advocated "race improvement" through selective human breeding. In Europe and the United States the eugenics movement found many supporters before it was finally discredited by its association with the racist ideology of Nazi Germany. Examining for the first time how eugenics was taken up by scientists and social reformers in Latin America; Nancy Leys Stepan compares the eugenics movements in Mexico; Brazil; and Argentina with the more familiar cases of Britain; the United States; and Germany.In this highly original account; Stepan sheds new light on the role of science in reformulating issues of race; gender; reproduction; and public health in an era when the focus on national identity was particularly intense. Drawing upon a rich body of evidence concerning the technical publications and professional meetings of Latin American eugenicists; she examines how they adapted eugenic principles to local contexts between the world wars. Stepan shows that Latin American eugenicists diverged considerably from their counterparts in Europe and the United States in their ideological approach and their interpretations of key texts concerning heredity.
#42552 in Books Charles W Mills 1999-06-25Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.40 x .60 x 5.50l; .57 #File Name: 0801484634192 pagesThe Racial Contract
Review
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful. The Philosophy That Rules Them AllBy M. RasheedI’m a big fan of a few authors whose great work involves making sense of the massive stockpile of collected historical data by spotlighting the logic thread that connects chunks of it into potent influential viewpoints. The Racial Contract by Charles Mills is the one that rules them all; with the author revealing the foundational support structure upon which all Western philosophy and formal moral ethics theory is based. Pointedly; Mills reminds us that Immanuel Kant thought I was a subhuman; and he is the most important moral theorist in all of western thought. If you can imagine the movie The Matrix; this book functions like a “what the Matrix is; how it functions the way it does; and how we can free ourselves from it†bible. It's intended to be the long missing component of Western Philosophy; a topic which can never be fully understood without seeing it properly through the lens of 'whites-exploiting-nonwhites' that it was created from in the first place.The world is the way it is today directly because of the global domination of the Europeans conquering; colonializing; and enslavement of non-Europeans under a White Supremacist banner (originally Christian; but it quickly morphed away from that; since the exploited could always just convert their way out of exploitation; losing the conqueror potential revenue; and we can't have THAT). This “White Peril†savagely plagued every nation on earth and took two forms:1) the initial physical assault of the European war machine designed to break; “season;†and smash the nonwhites into a submissive state ripe for exploitation2) the ideological indoctrination of that submissive state on the mental level.For the former; Mills was kind enough to coldly; clinically; chillingly; remind us of certain devastating examples; and even pull others from the deep dark of centuries past. In the latter – the era we are currently in – he deftly points out the many; many examples of how the breaking has become fully part of our cultural identity; as the conqueror so wished. But the effects of chattel enslavement; jim crow; and institutional disenfranchisement upon the exploited classes are well known to students of Western history from that distressed viewpoint.What was far more interesting to me was how these diabolical practices affected the oppressor himself. One of the perks of being the signatory of the Racial Contract is a deliberately imposed veil of ignorance; enabling one to pretend that the vast atrocities that make up the skeletal structure of Western Civilization never happened; with the gross societal imbalances being natural or genetic in origin as the official stance supported by all influential Eurocentric institutions. This personally went a LONG way towards understanding certain behaviors; like why they get mad whenever their historical wrongs are brought up and act as if it is somehow unfair; why they think the weird term “playing the race card†is a legitimate tool of argument; why they get instantly defensive whenever they hear members of the exploited classes celebrating and affirming their own skills; talents worth; and even why they feel that the current state of a broken exploited people is the way they’ve always been.Most of all; The Racial Contract showed how we will never finally overcome racism while the proposed solution from the conqueror class is for the exploited to simply shut up talking about it and accept the state its members find themselves in; as lesser persons requiring the conqueror’s merciful; legitimizing gaze to allow them into the ‘club’ of favor. Of course to continue in this state is unacceptable; but the only way it can be reversed is for that side to willingly set aside its ill-gotten artificial privileges and; as J.A. Rogers would say; transform “from superman to man.†In order to do this he must confront himself; recognize who he is; what he has done; and want to self-correct. He will have to go through pain to purge himself of the mantle of “Whiteness;†the political ideology of White Supremacy that he built this Eurocentric Society upon. And realistically why would he do that? He's oft demonstrated that he would much rather create a fantasyland Whitopia and live there; reinforcing his supremacist self-indoctrination with like minds; than deal with the truth of the reality he created. Mills’ book shows us how truly difficult curing our society of its Greatest Disease will truly be.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Succinct and Lucid; Integral in the Exposure of IgnoranceBy British5This is a landmark publication; and one which will be best appreciated in retrospect; after the people of the United States have accepted the subversive power of an inverted epistemology. This may be a book well-appreciated in certain academic settings; but it deserves a much more far-reaching readership that will allow people unaware of their own complicity in our current system of privilege to admit that simply being passive is unacceptable in the context of oppression. This would require; first and foremost; exactly what Mills demands: admission of the fact that an insidious system of privilege exists that ultimately favors one group of people (white)--in myriad ways--relative to others (black/brown). By doing so; it shows that a system of dominance which may bend in the direction of fascism still exists; and that resistance to this admission is very much akin to complicity.It is succinct and to the point; and it seems that Mills has cut out any words which aren't integral to making his point(s). Particularly instructive are statements such as "white imagination" vis a vis the "real life alarm" which brown/black has in the face of this oppression. This admission encourages the reader to see that white perception--commonly perceived; whether consciously or not; as the "right" perception--may actually be the one which is distorted. It also asserts a fact which may be more evident to people of color--that when we talk about equality; especially in the context of the Constitution; we are talking about white equality; since everybody else is assumed to have been excluded. This clearly illustrates the presumption of inferiority; if the Constitution had been concerned with equality for all; why has it required amendment? By doing so; he shows that our system's discrimination is deeply embedded in our society; making it easier for white people to be complicit in the dominance without taking accountability for that attitude (hence; the importance of the inverted epistemology; ie the necessity to maintain ignorance.) This book has the most value for (consciously) well-meaning white people who simply cannot see that racism is not over; and that brown/black peoples--and in the US; in particular African-Americans--are still oppressed in myriad ways which remain invisible (to some white people.) This book will have little value to the overt racist or white supremacist who eschews any authentic consideration of progress towards equality; since ironically they perceive the inequality and simply agree that it should be perpetuated. Not for the faint of heart color-blind racist: there may be more truth here than you can handle.Strongly recommended; not just for academic centers and philosophy classes; but for anyone embedded in this society who wishes forward movement. The first step to progress is the acknowledgement of the problem; and this book does it succinctly; honestly; and with a view towards movement towards equality. This should be required reading in a general undergraduate curriculum; and possibly even in our high schools.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Superb and revelatory book but recommend further readingBy Viktor VolkAs a white guy formerly unaware/in denial of the structural racism that's still going strong in society; this book really helped me to understand both this and the other inequalities of society. Other reviewers have definitely done the book justice; but I will also recommend that one reads after this Racism without Racists by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva; because as much as Mills does an excellent job of communicating the gist of white supremacy and racist ideology; one might still subscribe to elements of the racial ideology if they are not aware of what it constitutes. Racism without Racists fills in the blanks that this book necessarily leaves in order to achieve its "punchy" nature and widespread reading.
