Anarchism and Eugenics: A Seeming Paradox (1890-1940)

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This Fellowship aims to examine the historic overlap between the international anarchist labour movement and the international eugenics movement. At first sight, the two would appear to be mutually exclusive. Anarchism, an anti-authoritarian, egalitarian movement opposed to the power of the state and questioning of all forms of authority, including medical authority, would surely have been repelled by a 'scientific' doctrine that sought to eliminate the 'unfit' and champion the 'fit' as a means of 'race' survival. Paradoxical though it may seem, however, numerous strains of anarchist thought in different countries did in fact engage historically with certain aspects of eugenic thought and practice and provided a forum for their dissemination. By means of a historical analysis that situates anarchism's interest in evolutionary ideas, population control and the ideas of Malthus, anti-clericalism and revolutionary transformation, this Fellowship charts the intersection and the conflicts between - and within - the two movements during their heyday; the 1890s to the 1940s. In order to do so, the Fellowship focuses on the eugenics movement and the anarchist movement in five different countries where both eugenics and anarchism were historically influential - England, France, Portugal, Spain and Argentina. These movements are examined simultaneously and within a contemporaneous period (1890-1940), the years of both movements' maximum influence.By using an innovative set of theoretical and methodological tools, from Foucauldian insights to feminist epistemologies, through to 'post-anarchist' interpretations, this research aims to transform the historiography of both eugenics and anarchism. The first, because, despite new directions taken in the last decades, a right-wing affiliation and a statist origin of eugenics is assumed, whereby any reception of eugenic ideas is interpreted as inherently totalitarian and leading to the horrors of the Nazi death camps; the second, because too often it is thought inconceivable that the supporters of anarchism could contemplate birth control, hereditarian notions or advocate the achievement of a 'well-born' population.Three principal objectives are sought during the eighteen months of this Fellowship. The first objective analyses how important the presence or otherwise of the state and statist practice were in the articulation of eugenic thought and practice in the five countries studied. The state, drawing on current political theory, is considered to be not only a particular government, a set of policies, or legislation, but a varied political and social framework of authority that could be implemented through coercion, force or indeed consent. How did anarchist non-adherence and a lack of deference to the state alter the reception of eugenics by the libertarian movement? The second objective focuses on the transnational knowledge flows within eugenics, anarchism and between the two. To what extent was eugenics 'anarchized' and how was anarchism 'eugenicized' in this scenario? The third objective is to explore how the presence of another major social influence, the Catholic Church, affected the uptake of eugenics by anarchism. To what degree did anarchism define its engagement with eugenics as part of its declared anti-clericalism and the power of the Church to regulate sexuality and reproduction?This research, trans-national in its remit is not merely historical in scope, however. By examining the reception of scientific ideas in the past, we can pose questions on the ethics of medical thought, on matters of choice, on the power of the state and medical profession, to mould people's responses to illness and empowerment in today's society. The Fellowship seeks to engage with these debates by means of academic production (one monograph, one journal article, one conference paper) and a public-facing exhibition for the transmission of the Fellowship's findings.