Eugenics and the welfare state : sterilization policy in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland /

Originally published in 1996, this paperback edition remains a groundbreaking work for those interested in the history of the eugenics movement outside the Anglo-American experience. The book contains essays examining eugenics in four Scandinavian countries, one essay that places their stories in an international context, and an important article that links the science of better breeding to welfare reform. Although these Scandinavian countries differed somewhat in legislation specific to their state, they did share the same motives and procedures. As part of the development of the modern welfare state, these countries developed large-scale welfare systems in which policy makers adapted the pseudoscience of eugenics to argue for the sterilization of persons considered mentally retarded, racially inferior, or mentally suspect, thus reducing the state's future cost of taking care of their offspring. Between the 1920s and the 1960s, these four countries sterilized thousands of persons, mostly women, often without their consent. Given recent developments in medical technology and advances in genetic engineering, this work reminds readers of the importance of understanding the relationships between science, ideology, and politics. Summing Up: Recommended. Libraries that do not have the original edition; upper-division undergraduates and above. D. O. Cullen Collin County Community College District