Enlightenment Biopolitics

“This is a highly original study that breaks new ground and discusses fundamental issues in Enlightenment history, political theory, and biopolitics. With flawless scholarship and an extraordinary mastery of the many relevant controversies and debates of the time, Nelson fills a major gap in our knowledge of the Enlightenment. This book makes important contributions to Enlightenment scholarship and will compel us to rethink the balance between equality and inequality, as well as between inclusion and exclusion, in Enlightenment social and political thought.” * Siep Stuurman, author of The Invention of Humanity: Equality and Cultural Difference in World History *
“Enlightenment Biopolitics is a well-crafted book that intervenes in an important period using little-known documents. In this innovative work, Nelson offers a creative riposte to the canonical debate about social contract theory in the French eighteenth century and its echoes in modern discourse. Striking an impressive balance between shocking materials on human breeding and highly contextual readings of their implications, this book is a subtle and elegant contribution to the history of the French Enlightenment and French Revolution.” * Mackenzie Cooley, author of The Perfection of Nature: Animals, Breeding, and Race in the Renaissance *
“Enlightenment Biopolitics is a major accomplishment with implications for our understanding of European history from the Enlightenment onwards.” * European History Quarterly *
“Enlightenment Biopolitics is already an impressive and insightful contribution to the literature. That it is also provocative and stimulating reflects its scholarly importance. Nelson’s monograph is a major achievement that breaks new ground in the historiography of the European Enlightenment.” * European History Quarterly *
“Nelson reveals that long before the eugenics movements of the modern age, French naturalists and philosophes saw transforming biological humanity as the key to solving sociopolitical and economic problems in France and its colonies.” * Science *
“Situating biopolitics in the eighteenth century has important implications for contemporary political theory and politics.” * Political Theory *
“Enlightenment Biopolitics is a very interesting and lively book that will appeal to many readers whether or not they have any interest in or even knowledge of Michel Foucault’s work.” * Political Theory *
“Enlightenment Biopolitics is a crucial contribution to conversations in French Studies at a time when the field is witnessing an efflorescence of work on race and whiteness. Ultimately, the book will be of interest to any scholar working on bodily difference, modernity, or European intellectual history.” * EuropeNow *