Ingegneria sociale e salute razziale. le teorie eugenetiche della Progressive Era statunitense

The success of eugenics in the U.S., a nation that prides itself on its tradition of individualism and personal freedom, requires an adequate explanation. The aim of this article is to show how eugenic theories that flourished in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth derived from the technocratic political culture of the Progressive Era. Eugenics, in other words, was part of the projects of social engineering and social planning that many American progressives considered essential for the management and betterment of modern industrial society. In this perspective, leading progressive intellectuals saw eugenics as a genuine branch of social science and eugenic policies as an indispensable tool in the quest for social control.