21st century eugenics, scientific racism and the academic community
Rebecca Sear will discuss eugenics – and the way science is manipulated to promote political ideology.
21st century eugenics, scientific racism and the academic community
04 Jun 2025, 13:00 – 14:00
Eugenics – the ideology that human populations can be ‘improved’ through policies such as selective reproduction – emerged as a popular political movement in the early 20th century. Its popularity ostensibly waned during the late 20th century, but eugenic ideology never went away, and discussion of eugenics is now resurging.
In this talk, Rebecca will outline the instrumental role of academia in promoting eugenic ideology, and how eugenic ideology still thrives in 21st century academia.
She will focus particularly on the issue of scientific racism – the misuse of science to justify racial inequalities and hierarchies. Scientific racism aims to further the ideology that certain people and groups are inferior to others, a fundamental principle of eugenics.
Rebecca will end by discussing how academia can counter this exploitation of the research community for political ends.
This event will be particularly useful for researchers, policymakers and teachers.
Related links
- QSS and CLS seminar series
- Quantitative Social Science
- Centre for Longitudinal Studies
- Social Research Institute
Image
UCL Galton Collection: GALT 400 8 lantern slides.
Rebecca is a British anthropologist and academic, who specialises in evolutionary anthropology, demography and human behavioural ecology.
She previously taught at the London School of Economics, Durham University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. In July 2024, she was elected Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences.
Further information
Ticketing
Pre-booking essential
Cost
Free
Open to
All
Availability
Yes
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