Religion and Racial Progress in Twentieth-Century Britain

This book is the first in-depth analysis of Ernest William Barnes' Christian-eugenic philosophy: 'bio-spiritual determinism'. As a testament to the popularity of the movement, mid-twentieth century British eugenics is contextualized within a remarkably diverse selection of discourses including secular and Anglican interpretations of modernism, poverty, population, gender equality, pacifism and racism. This begins to address the scholastic gap on Christian eugenics while highlighting the perseverance of eugenic racism after World War Two.

Patrick T. Merricks is Lecturer in modern history, Director of the Working Group in the History of Race and Eugenics and Research Fellow of the Centre for Medical Humanities at Oxford Brookes University, UK.

1 Introduction.- 2 Anglican Modernism.- 3 Heredity and Race.- 4 The Eugenic Philosophy.- 5 Negative Eugenics.- 6 Conclusion.