Acta Poloniae Historica T. 114 (2016) ; Social Sciences and Politics in Early Twentieth Century East-Central Europe ; Romanian eugenic sub-culture and the allure of biopolitics, 1918-39

Abstract

By the late 1920s a considerable body of eugenic literature in Romanian, Hungarian and German had been produced in Romania, illustrating the growing importance afforded to science and evolutionary theories of human improvement in this country. Engaging with this literature, this article investigates the emergence of a Romanian sub-culture in Transylvania and the Banat, sanctioned through eugenics and biopolitics, and promoted by cultural associations and prominent intellectuals and politicians. In so doing, this article contributes not only to a new appraisal of the relationship between ethnic minorities and majorities in interwar Romania, but also to a new understanding of the ways in which eugenics and biopolitics were harnessed to Romanian narratives of nation-building during the interwar period. ; p. 29-58 ; 23 cm ; By the late 1920s a considerable body of eugenic literature in Romanian, Hungarian and German had been produced in Romania, illustrating the growing importance afforded to science and evolutionary theories of human improvement in this country. Engaging with this literature, this article investigates the emergence of a Romanian sub-culture in Transylvania and the Banat, sanctioned through eugenics and biopolitics, and promoted by cultural associations and prominent intellectuals and politicians. In so doing, this article contributes not only to a new appraisal of the relationship between ethnic minorities and majorities in interwar Romania, but also to a new understanding of the ways in which eugenics and biopolitics were harnessed to Romanian narratives of nation-building during the interwar period. ; s. 29-58 ; 23 cm