Eugenics in Mexico

Following the Mexican Revolution, the eugenics movement gained prominence in Mexico. Seeking to change the genetic make-up of the country's population, proponents of eugenics in Mexico focused primarily on rebuilding the population, creating healthy citizens, and ameliorating the effects of perceived social ills such as alcoholism, prostitution, and venereal diseases. Mexican eugenics, at its height in the 1930s, influenced the state's health, education, and welfare policies.[1]

Mexican elites adopted eugenic thinking and raised it under the banner of “the Great Mexican family” (Spanish: la gran familia mexicana).[2]

  1. ^ Manrique, Linnete (2016). "Dreaming of a cosmic race: José Vasconcelos and the politics of race in Mexico, 1920s–1930s". Cogent Arts & Humanities. 3 (1). doi:10.1080/23311983.2016.1218316.
  2. ^ Sánchez‐Rivera, R. (2021). "The Making of "La Gran Familia Mexicana": Eugenics, Gender, and Sexuality in Mexico". Journal of Historical Sociology. 34 (1): 161–185. doi:10.1111/johs.12308. ISSN 0952-1909.