Eugenics
Eugenics refers to beliefs and practices aimed at controlling reproduction in order to “improve” the characteristics of human populations. In the early 20th century, eugenic beliefs were intertwined with the developing science of genetics. These ideas were popular across the political spectrum in many countries, providing scientific cover for practices and policies targeting society’s most vulnerable communities. In the U.S., these included the forced sterilization of tens of thousands of people considered “unfit,” stringent immigration restrictions, and public policies that encouraged “fitter families” to produce more children. In Germany, the Nazis used similar concepts to justify their extermination of Jews, people with disabilities, homosexuals, and other groups. A century later, many social justice advocates and scholars are concerned that a new form of eugenics – guided by market dynamics and individual choice, rather than government policies – may emerge alongside new human genetic technologies.
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At the turn of the 20th century, U.S. scientists proposed the control of reproduction to advance society based on the...
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In late 2018, UC Berkeley bioethics professor Osagie K. Obasogie received a campus email about a research fund available to...
George Estreich discusses his most recent book Fables and Futures, inspired by his daughter Laura. Estreich goes beyond the personal to describe the ways that genetic technologies affect society and the stories the promoters of such technologies tell about them. The event took place on May 1, 2019 at the San Francisco Public Library.
The World Forum on Science and Democracy brings together “representatives of civil society engaged in the democratization of the production of scientific and technological knowledge.” On March 14, David King of Human Genetics Alert (UK) and Marcy Darnovsky spoke via video to its fifth annual meeting, held in Bahia, Brazil, about “The Threat of GM Babies.”
Troy Duster (UC Berkeley) offers opening remarks about the film Gattaca, followed by a panel discussion between Duster, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson (Emory), Osagie Obasogie (UC Berkeley, CGS), and moderator Karen Nakamura (UC Berkeley).
The event, co-sponsored by CGS and the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at UC Berkeley, took place at the David Brower Center in Berkeley on March 6, 2018.