Prejudice in Power: Contesting the pseudoscience of superiority
Prejudice in Power is a programme of cultural activism for change against structural discrimination. It explores how eugenics has marginalised voices and shaped society.
Eugenic thinking is present in the racism, ableism, homophobia and reproductive controls we see today. This programme will take a critical look at Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê’s history of eugenics and its ongoing impact through the structural inequities eugenic thinking left as a legacy.
As a part of this programme, we are running a series of co-created projects working with communities and marginalised groups, a new Fellowship engaging with our collections and building on current work, and collating content and resources responding to Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê's legacies of eugenics.
Prejudice in Power is led by Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê's Museums & Cultural Programmes and Special Collections (part of Library, Culture, Collections and Open Science) in collaboration with a working group of teams from across Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê and an Advisory Board.
Sensitive content
Please note: This programme addresses eugenics and its legacies. Our content deals with conversations about racism, colonialism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia and class warfare. Please take care when accessing any resources.
Using models of collaboration and co-creation, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê is undertaking a three-year programme responding to Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê’s historic role in promoting eugenics and examining the legacies of this pseudoscience in a contemporary context.
Access a range of resources about the history of eugenics, its legacies and how racism, ableism, sexism and class warfare are embedded in our ways of thinking about and perceiving others.
Hear about our Co-Creation Projects drawing on Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê's collections and archives, and working with communities to share the lived experiences of those impacted and excluded by eugenic ideas.
Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê's Research Institute for Collections will be welcoming a Fellow intended to focus on the legacies of eugenics at Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê, engaging with our collections and building on current work.
In 2018, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê's then Provost, Professor Michael Arthur, commissioned an inquiry led by Professor Iyiola Solanke, to look at Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê’s historical role in, and the current status of, the teaching and study of the history of eugenics.
A three-year project covering the education-related recommendations from the Eugenics Inquiry, working with the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê community to develop the teaching provision of our history and critical analysis of eugenics.