Question

Describe the roots of and use by Europeans of the concept of Social Darwinism. Discuss how this became a justification for European Imperialism of Africa and Asia.

Answer 1

Answer:

The root: After Darwin published his theories on biological evolution and natural selection, the sociologist Herbert Spencer and other ideologists drew further parallels between economic theories and Darwin’s scientific principles.

The usages by Europeans:

• Social Darwinism's followers, represented Herbert Spencer, by applied the idea of “survival of the fittest” in the UK during the Industrial Revolution, called for the unrestrained capitalism and opposed any laws that helped workers, the poor, and those who were genetically weak.
• Hitler adopted the Social Darwinist take on survival of the fittest. He believed the German master race had grown weak due to the influence of non-Aryans in Germany. To Hitler, survival of the German “Aryan” race depended on its ability to maintain the purity of its gene pool.

By extending their arguments to address the entire world, some Social Darwinism's followers justified imperialism on the basis that the imperial powers were naturally superior and their control over other nations was in the best interest of human evolution. This is the theory that they used to justify the European annexation of Africa and Asia.

Explanation:

Social Darwinism is a loose set of ideologies that was based on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. Social Darwinism's followers believe in “survival of the fittest”—the idea that certain people become powerful in society because they are innately better. The ideology has been used to justify imperialism, racism, eugenics and social inequality at various times over the past century and a half.