European Population Politics, 1900-2000

Why do current immigration debates in Europe seem to hinge on fears of a "great replacement"? This course presents students with the prehistory of contemporary population talk by exposing demographics and demographic analysis as driving forces of political action in twentieth-century Europe. Beginning at the turn of the century, the course examines what it meant for European governments to increasingly understand and govern society as a population. We will look at how national administrations began to record and stratify their own populace by attributes of race, ethnicity, sex, and age and applied this demographic knowledge in targeted economic and social policies. By doing so, students will learn about the common historical roots of such differing political projects as the secret Lebensborn Program of the Nazis and the rise of the National Health Service in postwar Britain.
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM; FA HUM; AR HUM; AS SC; BU Hum; BU IS

European Population Politics, 1900-2000

SOCIOLOGY 3715

Section 01