Late eugenics in Argentina and its family stereotype, second half of the twentieth century. Marisa A. Miranda 1. La Plata β Buenos Aires β Argentina. This article seeks to outline the main features of the stereotype of family promoted by the emblematic institution of the Argentine eugenics movement, the Argentine Eugenics Society Sociedad Argentina de Eugenesia , an organization founded in that remained active in the country until the s.
In fact, ever since eugenics was first articulated in the nineteenth century, and even more so during the twentieth century, there were different formulations of it, which were generally linked to the sociocultural features of each country. Historiography usually differentiates Latin eugenics from the Anglo-Saxon variety, explaining the survival of the former through the Cold War period as being due to its relationship with the Catholic church and its opposition to direct interference with the reproductive organs.
However, despite their dissimilarities, to a certain extent, both versions of eugenics legitimized government intervention in private life. Latin eugenics emerged in Italy in the early twentieth century. Its leader was Agostino Edoardo Gemelli, a physician turned priest who combined the ideas of the burgeoning international eugenics movement with those of the Catholic church. Such cooperation between religion and eugenics, Gemelli said, showed the fundamental harmony that ought to exist between faith and science Gemelli, , p.
This formed the epistemological basis for the discourses that sought to harmonize eugenics and religion in the twentieth century. It is worth stressing that during the period being analyzed here, the Argentine Eugenics Society became important enough to found the only school of eugenics in the world in Vallejo, Miranda, This article will outline the main features of Latin-style late eugenics, focusing in particular on the family stereotype promoted by the emblematic institution of the period, the Argentine Eugenics Society, mentioned earlier.
However, instead of reflecting on the various sociological and anthropological approaches to the concept of family, 5 I shall use the concept as it was enunciated at the time β in other words, the discourse authorized by late eugenics β in order to focus on features considered central to the formation of the stereotype of family.
