Tydén, Mattias. ‘The Scandinavian States: Reformed Eugenics Applied’. (2012)

Tydén, Mattias. ‘The Scandinavian States: Reformed Eugenics Applied’. The Oxford Handbook of the History of Eugenics, Eds. Alison Bashford and Philippa Levine, vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 2012.

This article deals with Scandinavian eugenics and issues of morality and history, guilt and rehabilitation and it also challenges the conventional conception of Scandinavian contem­porary history. It discusses a number of studies that show links between eugenics and progressive social thought and also throws light on the political implications of this issue. The three Scandinavian countries—Denmark, Norway, and Sweden—share experiences that were important for the development of eugenic ideas and policies. This article men­tions that the development of Mendelism and a growing understanding of the complexity of heredity marks different views about the potential of racial hygiene and for tensions within the community of eugenicists. Finally, it presents a discussion on Scandinavian eu­genics that focuses on the way sterilization was used in the framework of the Social De­mocratic welfare states from the 1930s onward.

doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195373141.013.0022.

PDF: http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195373141.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195373141-e-22.