{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/23842"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/23842","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Disciplining the future. Eugenics and modernization in interwar Romania","abstract":"\"Eugenics, the ideology of controlling the quality and quantity of the human species found many adepts in Romania during the interwar period. They brought to life their various interpretations of eugenics in many embodiments, from programs for physical education and better nutrition, to movements to segregate and even eliminate Jews and other \"\"dysgenic\"\" populations, such as criminals and prostitutes. Proponents of eugenics used their significant roles in public life to popularize theories of hereditary determinism in the realms of intellectual discourse and social reform. They offered a path towards modernization which would conserve vital elements of the past while embracing the future. Their synthesis of tradition and modernization helped negotiate the apparently irreconcilable debates during the interwar period between traditionalist conservatives and their opponents--the Europeanizing modernists.\"","abstract_html":""Eugenics, the ideology of controlling the quality and quantity of the human species found many adepts in Romania during the interwar period. They brought to life their various interpretations of eugenics in many embodiments, from programs for physical education and better nutrition, to movements to segregate and even eliminate Jews and other ""dysgenic"" populations, such as criminals and prostitutes. Proponents of eugenics used their significant roles in public life to popularize theories of hereditary determinism in the realms of intellectual discourse and social reform. They offered a path towards modernization which would conserve vital elements of the past while embracing the future. Their synthesis of tradition and modernization helped negotiate the apparently irreconcilable debates during the interwar period between traditionalist conservatives and their opponents--the Europeanizing modernists."","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bucur, Maria"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"History, European","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Hitchins, Keith"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-05-07T14:29:08Z","date_published":"2011-05-07T14:29:08Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:22Z","subjects":["History, European","History, Modern","History of Science"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Copyright 1996 Bucur, Maria"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["9780591197501","AAI9712209","(UMI)AAI9712209"],"render_values":[{"text":"9780591197501","href":null,"code":true},{"text":"AAI9712209","href":null,"code":true},{"text":"(UMI)AAI9712209","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/23842","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Hitchins, Keith"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bucur, Maria"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2011-05-07T14:29:08Z","10000-01-01","1996"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History, European","History, Modern","History of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["History, European","History, Modern","History of Science"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 1996 Bucur, Maria"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["9780591197501","AAI9712209","(UMI)AAI9712209","http://hdl.handle.net/2142/23842"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["\"Eugenics, the ideology of controlling the quality and quantity of the human species found many adepts in Romania during the interwar period. They brought to life their various interpretations of eugenics in many embodiments, from programs for physical education and better nutrition, to movements to segregate and even eliminate Jews and other \"\"dysgenic\"\" populations, such as criminals and prostitutes. Proponents of eugenics used their significant roles in public life to popularize theories of hereditary determinism in the realms of intellectual discourse and social reform. They offered a path towards modernization which would conserve vital elements of the past while embracing the future. Their synthesis of tradition and modernization helped negotiate the apparently irreconcilable debates during the interwar period between traditionalist conservatives and their opponents--the Europeanizing modernists.\"","Regardless of their various political alliances, which sometimes were prompted by sheer pragmatism rather than strong ideological convictions, eugenicists played an important, if unrecognized role in delegitimizing liberal parliamentary ideas, especially among the educated public and students in higher education institutions. Eugenicists used the language of science and objectivity to delegitimize the principles of liberty and democracy, by portraying these concepts as anti-rational, for they presumably ran against the universal law of heredity, differentiation and evolution. According to eugenicists, to claim individual autonomy over one's actions meant acting irresponsibly, for it showed complete disregard for the hereditary factors that conditioned each individual's development and behavior. Furthermore, democracy seemed a dangerous practice, for it allowed the mediocre to impose their will over the superior, and thus ran counter the principle of evolution through controlled selection. Instead, eugenicists depicted progress as a function of responsible action by a leadership selected from the hereditary elites. This phenomenon helps explain the attraction of many among the young generation during the early 1930s towards anti-liberal politics.","Made available in DSpace on 2011-05-07T14:29:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license.txt: 4922 bytes, checksum: 910b249b4beec47e7ab768910c8f966f (MD5) 9712209.pdf: 17100976 bytes, checksum: 596daef609b52478a1dad3916673b697 (MD5) Previous issue date: 1996","Item marked as restricted to the 'UIUC Users [automated]' Group (id=2) by Howard Ding (hding2@illinois.edu) on 2011-05-07T15:07:17Z Item is restricted indefinitely.","Restriction data tranferred 2014-07-01T11:32:18-05:00 Original Data Group with Access UIUC Users [automated] Release Date: none Reason: ETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permission","ETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permission","U of I Only"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Disciplining the future. Eugenics and modernization in interwar Romania"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Hitchins, Keith"],"dc:creator":["Bucur, Maria"],"dc:date":["2011-05-07T14:29:08Z","10000-01-01","1996"],"dc:description":["\"Eugenics, the ideology of controlling the quality and quantity of the human species found many adepts in Romania during the interwar period. They brought to life their various interpretations of eugenics in many embodiments, from programs for physical education and better nutrition, to movements to segregate and even eliminate Jews and other \"\"dysgenic\"\" populations, such as criminals and prostitutes. Proponents of eugenics used their significant roles in public life to popularize theories of hereditary determinism in the realms of intellectual discourse and social reform. They offered a path towards modernization which would conserve vital elements of the past while embracing the future. Their synthesis of tradition and modernization helped negotiate the apparently irreconcilable debates during the interwar period between traditionalist conservatives and their opponents--the Europeanizing modernists.\"","Regardless of their various political alliances, which sometimes were prompted by sheer pragmatism rather than strong ideological convictions, eugenicists played an important, if unrecognized role in delegitimizing liberal parliamentary ideas, especially among the educated public and students in higher education institutions. Eugenicists used the language of science and objectivity to delegitimize the principles of liberty and democracy, by portraying these concepts as anti-rational, for they presumably ran against the universal law of heredity, differentiation and evolution. According to eugenicists, to claim individual autonomy over one's actions meant acting irresponsibly, for it showed complete disregard for the hereditary factors that conditioned each individual's development and behavior. Furthermore, democracy seemed a dangerous practice, for it allowed the mediocre to impose their will over the superior, and thus ran counter the principle of evolution through controlled selection. Instead, eugenicists depicted progress as a function of responsible action by a leadership selected from the hereditary elites. This phenomenon helps explain the attraction of many among the young generation during the early 1930s towards anti-liberal politics.","Made available in DSpace on 2011-05-07T14:29:08Z (GMT). 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Eugenics and modernization in interwar Romania"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["History, European","History, Modern","History of Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:22Z"}