Social Darwinism is a sociological theory, according to which the laws of natural selection and the struggle for existence, Charles Darwin observed in nature, apply to relationships in human society.
Social Darwinism was popular from the late 19th century until the end of the second world war.
Elements of the theory are used by different conservative movements, by proponents of the Laissez-faire economic system and advocates of militarism.
In its extreme manifestations, S ocial Darwinism justify eugenics and racism. In their doctrines, the Social-Darwinians often used Malthusianism and eugenics to justify the superiority of hereditary properties of the dominant classes, groups, or races.
Use free sample research papers on Social Darwinism to learn that the term first appeared in Europe in 1877, and was used only by sociologists, who were against this notion. The term was popularized in the United States in 1944 by the American historian Richard Hofstadter, who used it in the ideological struggle against fascism, to denote the reactionary motto, which was used in the promotion of competitive struggle, racism, and chauvinism. In the period prior to the publication by Hofstadter the use of the term “Social Darwinism” in English-language academic journals were rare. Continue reading “Social Darwinism Research Paper”