| Quality and Quantity: The Quest for Biological Regeneration in Twentieth-Century France Contributor(s): Schneider, William H. (Author) |
|
 |
ISBN: 0521374987 ISBN-13: 9780521374989 Publisher: Cambridge University Press OUR PRICE: $128.25 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: November 1990 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Sociology - General - Medical | History |
| Dewey: 304.5 |
| LCCN: 90001767 |
| Series: Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought |
| Physical Information: 1.3" H x 6.2" W x 9.1" (1.5 lbs) 404 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This book examines in detail how eugenics in early twentieth-century France provided a broad cover for a variety of reform movements that attempted to bring about the biological regeneration of the French population. Like several other societies during this period, France showed a growing interest in natalist, neo-Lamarckian, social hygiene, racist, and other biologically-based movements as a response to the perception that French society was in a state of decline and degeneration. William Schneider's study provides a fascinating account of attempts to apply new discoveries in biology and medicine toward the improvement in the inherited biological quality of the population through such measures as birth control, premarital examinations, sterilization, and immigration restriction. It is the first attempt to set forth the major components of French eugenics both for comparison with other countries and to show the interaction of the various movements that comprised it. |