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This padlet is divided into topics that correspond to this week's slides and reading guide (posted on Canvas in the Week 11 box) for Tuesday's assigned reading.

As an individual, please post a short quote from the assigned reading this week (Banu Subramaniam's "Genealogies of Variation" excerpts, pages 45-52) that fits under the appropriate topic heading.  As always, make sure to identify the page number of the text where your quote comes from. Then, add a 1-2 sentence explanation for why you chose that topic heading for this particular quote. Use the white plus sign under the heading you've chosen to add your post.  Please make sure your name is on the post so that you can get counted!

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"Eugenic views were ultimately concerned with making a "good society." The political inclinations of the scientists shaped their vision of a good society and their views on the meaning and value of variation" (pg. 48).
I chose this quote because it shows a concern that is tied to eugenics as a science. Eugenic views was worried about setting a good example for the society you can say, because science helps shape the people of the society.

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“Early eugenicists had a clear solution to the dilemma of growing “unfit”. Through programs such as marriage restriction, sexual sterilization, and permanent custody of the defective, eugenicists hope to save society from the burden of the unfit”. (p.50)

I chose this quote to go under this topic heading because it talks about eugenics and how this study was used to make individuals possess only certain traits that would consider them to be better adapted and likely to succeed, which relates to evolutionary biology. The quote also states that in the past, eugenicists believed that in order for humans to have these better-adapted traits that are passed from parent to offspring then, there would have to be a lot of restrictions on people who weren’t considered” well-adapted,” such as minorities and disabled people as seen with how Nazis used eugenics.

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"A naturecultural framework allows us to see that evolution.

ary biologists have long wrestled with some version of what we recognize as

the nature/nurture debates. Subsequently, the evolutionary theory, methods,

and methodologies that they produced were entirely in service of their political goals and ambitions."
(pg47)

The reason that I chose this quote was because it shows the evolutionarily biology as an example of what is happening in science and what it fits into the existing social ideas it gives us examples as to what they use. They mentioned theory methods and mythologies that will help them achieve their goal as well as having social ideas. This creates framework that allows them to see their ambitions and to have debates to find a solution.

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“Eugenics is not a homogenous movement or one with a common purpose or goals. Really, eugenics is about the value and purpose of variation.”

This is one of the authors key arguments. And I chose it because when I think of eugenics and it’s purpose I usually think about it in the sense of sterilizing individuals based on their status of hierarchy. It was taught to me that eugenics was about cleansing the world of a certain race or class to quote on quote “improve” society. And so for the author to say that eugenics didn’t have one specific goal or one cohesive purpose is kind of confusing to me.

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"Eugenics was without a doubt an important and fundamental aspect of many key movements in the past two centuries, intimately linked to ideologies of race, nation, and sex, and also a part of several programmatic and institutional initiatives... [yet] the picture became considerably more complex... Much of the historiography has unfortunately focused on the extreme cases of race improvement in Germany, Britain, and the United States with less exploration of its global dimensions and also its wide appeal to a global populace across social, national, and ideological lines." (pg. 46)

As long as this quote was, I chose certain sections that indicate how applied sciences, known as Eugenics, tend to get sidetracked as it mainly targets the negative social impact of historical events especially when it comes to topics of race, sex, nationalism, and even political ideas. As a result, it shifts from the main focus, being the actual scientific research that has been done throughout history during such important historical events, what causes them to occur, and its significance in the world of science.

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"As Mark Haller argues, early eugenicists had a clear solution to the dilemma of the growing "unfit". Through programs such as marriage restriction, sexual sterilization, and permanent custody of the defective, eugenicists hope to save society from the "burden of the unfit"(haller 1984). You can see the direct embrace of these philosophies in Darwin's comment that "we Civilized men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination; we build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed, and the sick; ... Thus the weak members of civilized societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man." (Darwin 1922: 136)." (page 50)
The fact that certain concepts of eugenics seem to mirror the sentiments of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution and evolutionary science, makes me feel that Darwin and evolutionary biologists after him may have had certain theories and concepts based at least partially on their own social beliefs rather than just pure scientific observations. They used what was observed to justify social ideas rather than change their beliefs upon research.

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"Genetic counseling, pre-genetic diagnoses, preferential abortions…are all seen as modern incarnations of eugenics…genetics has come to stand in for ‘a set of ideals about a perfect health culture’”
One of the things I found most interesting in this reading is how eugenics has not disappeared, as many think, but has simply evolved. The author argues that we now practice eugenics individually, through our access to technologies. This is mind-blowing, because we tend to tie eugenics to the horrors of the past and not think about the interconnections it has with genetics in general.

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"Eugenics ranged from practices that prevented life (through sterilizations, contraception, segregation, or abortion), aimed for 'fitter' life...generated more life...or ended life" pg. 46
What this quote reminds me of is a film I had watched in a humanities class called "No Mas Bebes", in which Latina women were unknowingly coerced into sterilization by doctors who took advantage of their vulnerability after giving birth. I had primarily thought of eugenics as tweaks in DNA or "designer babies" but did not consider that eugenics can also be prevention and destruction of gene pools as much as it is about creation.

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"Feminists remind us that to understand eugenics, frameworks of women's and gender studies are essential. These practices cultivated eugenic practices through promoting particular ideologies of femininity and motherhood, stratification of reproductive health technologies, and access to public health" (pg. 58)

This quote appealed to me since it relates to life's ideals. Eugenics is the selection of desired heritable features in order to enhance future generations, typically in relation to humans, and I believe that eugenics is very important to our lives. I like that eugenics encourages femininity, motherhood, reproductive health, and public health access because I believe that access to public health is critical in our lives.

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“Galton saw eugenics as humane, arguing that it would ensure natural selection by other processes that are more merciful and less effective”(p.52)
Galton saw that natural selection works better in animals than in humans because humans tend to interfere with the processes.

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"A history of the concept of variation in evolutionary biology is simultaneously also a history of biologists' quest for a "better" human society and the relationship of Science and power" (Subramaniam 48).

-This quote really emphasizes the importance of science and power, and the effects it can have on the social world. In terms of eugenics, Science has been historically used to control reproduction of groups deemed as inferior. This form of Science has had great power in the world, which is also very dangerous.

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Itai Zamora.“Diane Paul argues that ‘Eugenics is a word of nasty connotations but an indeterminate meaning, indeed it often reveals more about its user’s attitudes than the policies, practices, intentions or consequences labeled” (Subramaniam 46). 

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Itai Zamora.“Diane Paul argues that ‘Eugenics is a word of nasty connotations but an indeterminate meaning, indeed it often reveals more about its user’s attitudes than the policies, practices, intentions or consequences labeled” (Subramaniam 46). 

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I chose this quote because it shows how rooted eugenics is in social values. This is because it can be both good and bad it just depends on what it is used for. For instance, Subramaniam mentioned how eugenics aimed to generate more ‘fitted’ lives. Upon hearing that it may seem like a good thing. However, the way they went about deciding what race or kind of people were considered as the more ‘fitted’ of the population depended upon the users values and ideologies. This is when it can go very bad.

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“Eugenics is not a homogenous movement or one with a common purpose or goals. Rather, eugenics is really an argument about the value and purpose of variation.” Page 48
I picked this quote because in connection to my classmates on this section eugenics is not something that is meant to be linear. It has many disciplines within its self and is always “shifting biological and political valances over time.” 48 Eugenics can construct based on the surrounding areas being studied and isn’t set to one path.

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"First, variation arises randomly with respect to the needs of the organism. Second, the importance of variation depends on a given environment. Some variation confers an advantage to an organism, other forms of variation is harmful" (pg. 51).

I chose this topic because of how Darwin discusses the process of biological variations. He believes the process of variation has something to do with adapting to a certain group of individuals as it depends on the environment. Also, it makes the effect on the population of how many variations there are in the world and the uniqueness behind it as for eugenics and "resemblance". I feel like this is the topic on which Darwin presents his interpretations the biological variation.

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“Galton saw eugenics as humane, arguing that it would ensure “natural selection by other processes that are more merciful and not less effective. This is precisely the aim of eugenics.” Galton’s profound contribution, a legacy that lives on to this day. In addition to eugenics, Galton also coined another famous phrase, nature and nurture. . .He was convinced that it was nature and not nurture that determined hereditary ability.”(Subramaniam 52)

I decided to put it under this topic because it talks about Galton’s point of view on eugenics. He believes that when it comes to evolutionary biology your nature has more of an affect than your nurture (environment). Therefore, deciding your hereditary ability.

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"Galton saw eugenics as humane, arguing that it would ensure " natural selection by other processes that are more merciful and not less effective. This precisely the aim of eugenics".(52) I chose this quote because it talks about how he saw eugenics and used Darwinism fused with a scientific narrative on improving society that is still being used today.

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"Eugenic views were ultimately concerned with making a 'good society. The political inclinations of the scientists shaped their vision of a good society and their views on the meaning and value of orientation"

I chose this quote because it highlights the intention of eugenics as well as how it does not appeal to scientific objectivity.

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“With its contemporary connotations of holocaust, racial hygiene, genocide, and mass sterilizations of peoples considered “inferior,” this is now a well-traveled history of the horrors of the unholy alliance of science and politics” (p.46). I chose this quote because I believe this is a great intro quote to unit 3. In our science courses we don’t always relate science to society and politics. I am interested to learn how the foundations of science can be related to our society today and of the past. -Nicole Hokama