For the Betterment of the Race: The Rise and Fall of the International Movement for Eugenics and Racial Hygiene by Stefan Kühl (review)

In the afterword to this volume Stefan Kühl notes that when he initially published it in German a decade ago, he presumed that most scholars would have a working knowledge of German. As he soon learned, outside Europe this was not so, and his decision to produce an updated, English-language edition cannot be praised enough.

Kühl’s chronological overview of the creation, ascendency, and downfall of the international eugenics movement focuses on Germany, Britain, and the United States, although he does incorporate figures from other countries. The author highlights the professional relationships among those who promoted eugenics and shows how they utilized conferences and publications to found an international movement and to attempt to establish eugenics as a recognized academic discipline.

Kühl begins by examining the early-twentieth-century rise of national movements in the three main counties, showing that each was founded with a different concern in mind: German adherents emphasized reproduction by the “White race,” while Britons focused on class and Americans on “feebleminded” and “inferior” immigrants. The author also points out that each movement had a particular view of international cooperation. With a comparative focus on the “Nordic race,” German “race hygienists” provided the driving force for an international movement, first in German-speaking lands and then integrating other European and American eugenicists. Kühl contextualizes the latter into the broader contemporary trend toward international cooperation in medicine, science, and technology, among other fields.

Several events challenged the young international network’s viability, including the First World War. Kühl notes that early eugenicists had not articulated a single position regarding war. Given the destruction wrought by World War I, however, they grew concerned about its dysgenic effects. The war also had a secondary effect: many eugenicists, especially the Germans, were caught up in patriotic fervor, and connections to the international community consequently dwindled. Due to the punitive peace settlements, these connections were not immediately reestablished. The postwar exclusion of the former Central Powers for nearly a decade subsequently led to the ascendancy of American eugenicists.

While the changing relationship among eugenicists forms one core theme for Kühl, racism forms another. As seen in the initial concerns of German race hygienists, racism was present in the international movement from its inception. Its place, however, shifted, from original support by prominent and well-respected scientists, to abandonment in the latter half of the century by all but marginal figures. Kühl shows how and why this shift occurred; the failure of eugenics to gain permanent academic legitimacy as well as the symbiosis of science and politics in Nazi Germany figured in mainstream scientists’ eventual rejection of racism.

Nazi Germany was not the only place where a relationship formed between eugenics and politics. Many countries established sterilization laws. But nowhere did a government integrate eugenics so thoroughly into policy as in the Third Reich, where acceptance of eugenics as science bolstered the position of race hygienists, who in turn provided government policy with scientific legitimacy. Nor were they alone in this endeavor: Kühl reveals how non-German eugenicists contributed to the international legitimization of Nazi policies.

This history of national and international support shaped post–World War II perceptions. Eugenics never disappeared, but the term itself became taboo due to the connection with Nazi atrocities. Recognizing this association in the popular perception, eugenicists changed tactics. Rather than working through the state and seeking implementation of compulsory measures, they understood that exerting influence over individuals and convincing them to take action voluntarily would be a more effective method. Thus, Kühl subsequently examines how postwar adherents abandoned efforts to establish eugenics as an academic discipline, but still tried to find a place for reformed eugenic ideals. They also supported the emerging fields of demography and...