Standpunten en kanttekeningen

Over de Fischeriaanse (zelf)domesticatietheorie in Johan Goudsbloms "vuur en beschaving"-theorie

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Abstract

On the Fischerian (self)domestication theory in Johan Goudsblom’s ’fire and civilization theory - If sociologists, anthropologists and historians do not study the anthropological theories of the beginning of this century, they might stumble into the same pitfalls regarding racism and eugenics as others did before them. The Amsterdam sociologist Johan Goudsblom did not study the German anthropological literature of the first half of this century while writing his Fire and Civilization study. As a consequence he incorporated a ’biological’ term - (self)domestication as a central concept in his theory, a concept which already had a racist and eugenic connotation since the nazi anthropologist Eugen Fischer used it as a central concept in his studies. Fischer’s theories were the cornerstones of the nazi’s ’race biology’ that led to the Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses. On the basis of this Nazi law many people were forcefully sterilized and even killed by Hitler’s regime. The anthropologist Hans Weinert and the ethologist Konrad Lorenz based their (self)domestication theories upon Fischer’s theory, and both of them applauded the efficiency of the Nazi regime in implementing the Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses. The first part of Goudsblom’s Fire and Civilization study shows many similarities with Fischer’s and Weinert’s theories, but in 1988 Goudsblom declared to have no knowledge of these theories. Goudsblom has in all probability been influenced by his friends Dick Hillenius and Nico Wilterdink, who saw no harm in Lorenz’s (self)domestication theory, and by his friend and tutor Norbert Elias, who coupled his civilization theory with Lorenz’s (self)domestication theory. In his book Fire and Civilization Goudsblom strengthened Elias’s coupling of theories without distancing himself from Fischer’s, Weinert’s and Lorenz’s (self)domestication theories. This could have serious consequences for the Dutch historical sociology !

How to Cite:

Staring, J., (1995) “Over de Fischeriaanse (zelf)domesticatietheorie in Johan Goudsbloms "vuur en beschaving"-theorie”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 40(1), 53–70. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.95193