The Scope of Eugenics: A Workshop

The Scope of Eugenics, held at the Banff Centre from May 22-25, focused on eugenics as both a historical practice and an ideological motivation. In addition to many presentations about the history of eugenics in North America, the conference sought to connect these historical examples to what participants called “Newgenics.”

Newgenics is a term used to describe current and emerging medical, political and social practices aimed at “improving” humankind, and at eliminating disability and difference. These goals are often accomplished through gentler means than those historically used in the service of negative eugenics. But Newgenic practices include coercive sterilization as well as, prenatal testing, educational standards, and institutionalization. Human germline modification, now being discussed as a real prospect, would also fall in this category. Newgenics retains the same eliminative logic of twentieth-century eugenics, though often in more subtle and differently problematic ways.  

The four-day workshop was organized by Robert Wilson and Moyra Lang of the Edmonton-based Living Archives Project on Eugenics in Western Canada.  It brought together early-career scholars interested in eugenics, and celebrated significant student contributions made to the Living Archives Project, which is supported by the Community University Research Alliance and Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

In attendance were Judy Lytton, Leilani O’Malley (Muir), and Glenn Sinclair, whose stories are featured in the upcoming documentary Surviving Eugenics, which provides a unique insiders' view of life in institutions for the "feeble-minded" during the mid-twentieth century, and raises broad questions about disability, human variation, and contemporary social policies. The film’s protagonists are people who were themselves sterilized at the Provincial Training School for Mental Defectives in Red Deer, Alberta, and their testimonies added a uniquely personal experience to the discussions of emerging Newgenic issues.

Members of The Living Archives Project spoke as well. Nicola Fairbrother, who interviewed the survivors, discussed the importance of taking personal testimony from people whose voices are typically silenced and devalued. Fairbrother’s work amplifies these voices and stories, both in the documentary and in the “Our Stories Told” section of the online Eugenics Archives. Living Archives member Justin Houle spoke about his work creating “Newgenics: The Game,” which aims to reach a younger demographic on the Archive’s webpage. 

Both The Scope of Eugenics conference and the Eugenics Archives reflect the collaborative work of scholars, sterilization survivors, students, and university and community partners in challenging eugenics in a balanced and informative way. You can explore the online Archives’ ten tools, including personal narratives, the Newgenics game, timelines, and other visual representations, to learn more about the history of eugenics and to connect that legacy to our realities today.

Previously on Biopolitical Times:

• Why We Should Teach the History of Eugenics
• High School Students' Campaign to Spread Awareness of California’s Eugenic History
• Future Past: Disability, Eugenics, & Brave New Worlds