This volume explores the history of eugenics in four Dominions of the British Empire: New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and South Africa. These self-governing colonies reshaped ideas absorbed from the metropole in accord with local conditions and ideals. Compared to Britain (and the US, Germany, and Scandinavia), their orientation was generally less hereditarian and more populist and agrarian. It also reflected the view that these young and enterprising societies could potentially show Britain the way - if they were protected from internal and external threat. This volume contributes to the increasingly comparative and international literature on the history of eugenics and to several ongoing historiographic debates, especially around issues of race. As white-settler societies, questions related to racial mixing and purity were inescapable, and a notable contribution of this volume is its attention to Indigenous populations, both as targets and on occasion agents of eugenic ideology.
"Eugenics at the Edges of Empire is an essential contribution for researchers across humanities and social science disciplines interested in the history of eugenics." (Jennifer S. Kain, Historical Records of Australian Science, Vol. 31, 2020)
"Eugenics at the Edges of Empire: New Zealand, Australia, Canada and South Africa is a wide-ranging ? examination of eugenic thought across the British Empire. The broad contexts investigated and the interdisciplinary nature ? make it valuable not only to scholars of eugenics, but also the history of psychiatry, settler colonialism and gender, among others." (Effie Karageorgos, Australian Historical Studies, Vol. 51 (1), 2020)
"Eugenics at the Edges of Empire exemplifies the importance of postcolonial historiography and its role in shaping our understanding of the eugenics movement. ? Eugenics at the Edges of Empire is a judicious introduction to the subject and expands the reader's appreciation for the international scope of eugenics. ? recommended for courses in the fields of social history, postcolonial studies, the history of science, the history of medicine, international studies, and public policy studies." (Dennis L. Durst, Isis, Vol. 110 (4), December, 2019)
"A valuable and readable collection of essays which, taken as a whole, do much to advance discussion of the importance of locale in eugenics, and specifically, in this volume, its influence and impact in the settler colonies of the British Empire." (Philippa Levine, Social History of Medicine, Vol. 32 (4), November, 2019)
