“To End the Degeneration of a Nation”: Debates on Eugenic Sterilization in Inter-war Romania

Abstract

Among various programmes of biological engineering developed in the twentieth century eugenic sterilization is one of the most notorious. The reasons are numerous, ranging from its application under the Nazi regime to its post-1945 application in the Scandinavian countries, the recent sterilization of the Roma in the Czech Republic, and China's birth planning policies. 1 Yet it is only in the past two decades that our knowledge about sterilization policies and practices has improved-both in their historical context, and with respect to their practical implementation. 2 After the First World War, the prospect of introducing coercive eugenic measures gained acceptance, especially in Northern and Western Europe. Within the economic

Romanian IVF: a brief history through the ‘lens’ of labour, migration and global egg donation markets

“…However, in the 1930s it was already striving for integration with Europe, with physicians trained abroad in France and Germany, and French and German influences on policies of reproduction and health. Indeed, in the 1930s abortion was allowed in Romania, albeit solely for eugenic purposes or eliminating so-called ‘degenerates’ ( Turda, 2009 ). Ceausescu’s coercive anti-abortion laws led not only to many fatal and dangerous underground abortions but also to the images seen in the media in the 1980s of neglected children in Romanian orphanages.…”

“…Given Romania’s history of repressive reproductive policies, including both the promotion of eugenics in the 1930s ( Turda, 2009 ) and Ceausescu’s anti-abortion law ( Kligman, 1998 ), it is not surprising that it was one of the latecomers to IVF in Europe. Yet, this paper contends that to comprehend IVF in the Romanian context one must examine the interplay in the country between IVF, migration, economics and egg donation.…”

‘New eugenics,’ gender and sexuality: a global perspective on reproductive politics and sex education in Cold War Europe

“…The articles presented here are among the first to discuss the resurfacing of eugenics in the postwar period in the field of sex education and reproductive politics in Europe. Existing research on eugenics in the region has so far primarily focused on the first half of the 20 th century (Bucur, 2002;Kund, 2016;Turda, 2007Turda, , 2009Turda, , 2013Turda, , 2014Turda, , 2015Turda & Weindling, 2007). Quine (1996) has revealed how eugenic ideas were interlinked with health, education and welfare measures in the early 20 th century, especially in France and Italy, where eugenicists proved to be receptive to environmentalist arguments on 'modify[ing] nature' through changes in social conditions (p. 67).…”

“…Scholars have drawn attention to the fact that battles about sexual and reproductive matters among the representatives of various state institutions, and social and religious movements have intensified in periods of political and economic change (Gal & Kligman, 2000, p. 21). The establishment of nation states after World War I in the region increased anxieties concerning population quantity and 'quality' (Bucur, 2002;Kund, 2016;Turda, 2007Turda, , 2009Turda, , 2013Turda, , 2014Turda, , 2015Turda & Weindling, 2007). Eugenic thought intertwined increasingly with nationalist and also racist and anti-Semitic ideas from the 1920s onwards, resulting in selective and forced pro-and antinatalist practices that affected different groups of women and men differently (Kund, 2016;Szikra, 2009;Turda, 2007Turda, , 2009Turda, , 2013Turda & Weindling, 2007).…”

Entangled traditions of race

“…On this occasion, official patronage coupled with extensive media coverage brought renewed significance to Romanian anthropology. Presided over by the Swiss anthropologist Eugène Pittard (1867–1962), the congress was used by Romanian anthropologists to inform foreign scholars of their achievements in such diverse disciplines as paleontology, archeology, folklore, serology, and eugenics (Turda 2009a).…”