• Admin
    UC Research Repository
    View Item 
       
    • UC Home
    • Library
    • UC Research Repository
    • College of Arts
    • Arts: Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
       
    • UC Home
    • Library
    • UC Research Repository
    • College of Arts
    • Arts: Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of the RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Gender, race and colonial identity : women and eugenics in New Zealand, 1918-1939.

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Thesis_fulltext.pdf (8.353Mb)
    Author
    Wanhalla, Angela C.
    Date
    2001
    Permanent Link
    http://hdl.handle.net/10092/4237
    Degree Grantor
    University of Canterbury
    Degree Level
    Masters
    Degree Name
    Master of Arts

    The very general nature of eugenics allowed many diverse groups and individuals, that on the surface had little in common, to form alliances along eugenic lines. Social and moral reformers, politicians, scientists, academics and medical authorities were among the many supporters of eugenics. This thesis traces the participation of the National Council of Women, the Women's Christian Temperance Union, the Society for the Protection of Women and Children, and the Women's Division of the Farmers' Union, as well as female government officials and professional women who as teachers, doctors, nurses, writers, and feminists acted to produce a gendered and raced discourse of eugenics in interwar New Zealand. At the same time, it is argued that New Zealand was not merely a consumer of eugenics, as eugenics was expressed in Britain, but that it was adapted to the geographical and metaphorical spaces of New Zealand. Further, New Zealand eugenics was re-represented in its colonial form, with an emphasis on environmental reform, to Britain. Meanwhile, New Zealand's dawning nationalism saw it turn to countries beyond Britain for alternative models of eugenics, to construct and develop a New Zealand eugenics relative to the geographical, racial, economic and political terrain of the country. This thesis suggests that overseas models and influences contributed to a making of a colonial eugenics, where a distinctive New Zealand voice and anxieties were present It is also suggested that what has been written about eugenics has neglected the colonial setting and has often viewed eugenics as a monolithic discourse that was culturally and geographically invariant. In short, this thesis deals not only with gender but also with the themes of race and colonial identity, arguing that like feminism, eugenics is subject to historical specificity.

    Collections
    • Arts: Theses and Dissertations [1571]
    Rights
    https://canterbury.libguides.com/rights/theses

    UC Research Repository
    University Library
    University of Canterbury
    Private Bag 4800
    Christchurch 8140

    Phone
    364 2987 ext 8718

    Email
    ucresearchrepository@canterbury.ac.nz

    Follow us
    FacebookTwitterYoutube

    © University of Canterbury Library
    Send Feedback | Contact Us