Measuring The Master Race: Physical Anthropology In Norway 1890-1945
by Jon Røyne Kyllingstad /
2014 / English / PDF
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The notion of a superior 'Germanic' or 'Nordic' race was a central
theme in the ideology of the Nazis. But it was also a commonly
accepted idea in the early twentieth century, and an actual
scientific concept originating from anthropological research on the
physical characteristics of Europeans. The Scandinavian Peninsula
was considered to be the historical cradle and the core area of
this 'master race'. This book investigates the role played by
Scandinavian scholars in inventing this so-called superior race,
and discusses how this concept put its stamp on Norwegian physical
anthropology, prehistory, national identity, and on the Norwegian
eugenics movement. It also explores the decline and scientific
disputation of these ideas in the 1930s as they came to be
associated with the 'genetic cleansing' of Nazi Germany. This is
the first comprehensive study on Norwegian physical anthropology,
and its findings shed new light on current political and scientific
debates about race across the globe.
The notion of a superior 'Germanic' or 'Nordic' race was a central
theme in the ideology of the Nazis. But it was also a commonly
accepted idea in the early twentieth century, and an actual
scientific concept originating from anthropological research on the
physical characteristics of Europeans. The Scandinavian Peninsula
was considered to be the historical cradle and the core area of
this 'master race'. This book investigates the role played by
Scandinavian scholars in inventing this so-called superior race,
and discusses how this concept put its stamp on Norwegian physical
anthropology, prehistory, national identity, and on the Norwegian
eugenics movement. It also explores the decline and scientific
disputation of these ideas in the 1930s as they came to be
associated with the 'genetic cleansing' of Nazi Germany. This is
the first comprehensive study on Norwegian physical anthropology,
and its findings shed new light on current political and scientific
debates about race across the globe.