The Unfit: A History of a Bad Idea [Hardcover]

I am going to say it clearly and succinctly: this brand-new book is one of the most important scholarly works of the year. Seeking to understand why some people were poor, homeless, criminally inclined, mentally ill, and in other ways socially inadequate, 19th-century theorists turned to the science of eugenics, the concept of genetically unfit people. This stunning book is an exploration of the profound contemporary resonance of this concept and how it directly contributed to such persecutions as the Holocaust.

Certain individuals were judged "degenerate" as early as biblical times, and the condition was viewed as a punishment for religious transgression. Noted author Elof Axel Carlson traces the idea that degeneracy was biologically determined and shows how the social application of the label changed throughout the last century as the new academic discipline of sociology emerged. Carlson describes the failures and abuses of the social movements in the United States and Europe with their sorry history of racism, anti-Semitism, and violations of basic human rights.

Carlson writes beautifully, but I want to warn readers that this is not a book to be looked at lightly. It probably couldn't have the power it does if it did not include the wealth of illustrations and extensive notes, but it is indeed a serious study of this disturbing science. As Carlson writes in his Introduction, "Readers of this book may feel uncomfortable, as I certainly did, when they realize that there is a lot of mythology associated with the origins of the eugenics movement. It is embarrassing to see many strange bedfellows in the development of the idea of unfit people, and it should give us pause if we believe that the Holocaust could have been predicted from its earliest roots." I shivered when I read that statement. --Charles Decker

The Unfit: A History of a Bad Idea is a valuable contribution to historical scholarship relating to the eugenics movements of the 19th and 20th centuries... Carlson shows that long before Francis Galton coined the term 'eugenics,' scientists, physicians, philosophers, social reformers, and theologians had discussed the idea of an unfit class of people and had proposed solutions to deal with people they regarded as unfit. He also points out that many of those associated with the movement were 'people of good will, many with outstanding credentials as social reformers.' Carlson further reminds readers that even if societies do not enact eugenics laws, couples planning to have children will still face difficult moral decisions created by the availability of genetic counseling, prenatal genetic testing, and elective abortion. Although many may regard the eugenics movement as little more than an unfortunate chapter in human history, Carlson's book reminds us that the idea of an unfit group of people is not likely to fade into history, since it is a common strategy for explaining and responding to humanity's moral, physiological, and psychological imperfections. As we learn more about the genetic basis of disease and gain more control over human health and reproduction, we must also learn to deal with human imperfections without stigmatizing classes or races of people as unfit. New England Journal of Medicine Carlson's thoroughly readable, at times wryly entertaining, account of the history of the old eugenics shows that it was not invented by monsters, and that while some of its proponents were people one would not invite to lunch, many were progressive, decent radicals and doctors with a passion for constructive social reform. There are strange and unexpected precursors; sterilization started as what was thought to be the much-needed cure for habitual masturbation. Many of the measures, including mandatory sterilization of the unfit , were deemed in their day to be humane and progressive social policies. The fashionable commination of eugenics has obscured both the unpleasant physical realities about our genes and the wider truths about the two deep currents of human culture on which eugenics floated-beating up the neighbours, and ensuring the quality of our own posterity... Carlson maintains an exemplary detachment: he does not demonize or mock, and extracts only limited morals. A biologist by trade, unlike some other biologists who have written much on this subject, he stands as a historian rather than a man with a big agenda. He attributes the change, around the end of the nineteenth century, from social reform to the application of newly available genetic ideas, to a mounting frustration at the sheer lack of progress that had been made in fifty years of sincere assaults on social problems by environmental means. Although much intellectual racism owed nothing to eugenics, it is sadly true that systematized bigotry, racism and genocide, for a brief period only, were able to use a primitive and substantially flawed understanding of human genetics as a rationalization for what they would have done anyway. As such, genetics is a minor episode in this aspect of human history. Times Literary Supplement The book is extremely well documented and draws from a wide variety of scientific, religious, philosophical, and historical sources. Carlson makes sense of a broad collection of related themes, claims, and activities, and he constructs a cohesive narrative that explains the intellectual and historical backgrounds to eugenics, the impacts of eugenics on Western societies, and the ongoing concerns about modern genetics. It should be especially useful to students and instructors dealing with the scientific racism and eugenics and those interested in the historical background to current concerns about genetics. Journal of the History of Biology