LEVIATHAN seminar series - Critique of eugenics in post-World War II medical articles in state socialist Hungary

LEVIATHAN SEMINAR SERIES

in the framework of the ERC Synergy Grant Project "Taming the European Leviathan: The Legacy of Post-War Medicine and the Common Good" 
(H2020 ERC-2019-SyG, GA 854503)

"Critique of eugenics in post-World War II medical articles in state socialist Hungary"

by Barna Szamosi

8 March, 2024 6 pm

online event

The talk dealt with the early medical critique of eugenics after the Second World War. Barna's aim was to explore the eugenic aspects of reproductive genetics through the narrative analysis of articles published in medical journals. In his analysis he reviewed the eugenic and race-biological reflections that were discussed in these medical articles published after 1948 and before the 1970s and looked at how these critical interpretations enabled the institutionalization of genetic counselling. In the presentation, he showed how genetic technology shaped the evaluation of reproductive risks and during genetic counselling how predictions were interpreted about the health of planned children.