Darwinism was politically neutral and served both race rule and its opponents

Evidence

On the one hand, there was an openly biological transcription, which occurred long before Darwin and which borrowed its discourse, together with all its elements, concepts, and vocabulary, from a materialist anatomo-physiology. It also has the support of philology, and thus gives birth to the theory of races in the historico-biological sense of the term. Once again and almost as in the seventeenth century, this is a very ambiguous theory, and it is articulated with, on the one hand, nationalist movements in Europe and with nationalities’ struggles against the great State apparatuses (essentially the Russian and the Austrian); you will then see it articulated with European policies of colonization. — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 77 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Biological race theory predates Darwin and supported colonialism — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 77; German and French race-thinking served opposite political purposes; Evolutionist doctrines translated middle-class ambition into biological race hierarchy (+2 more)

Related

• Biological race theory predates Darwin and supported colonialism (similarity 0.89)
• Darwinism prepared but did not directly cause racial nativism (similarity 0.83)
• Darwinism was politically neutral and initially served anti-colonial and pacifist causes (similarity 0.83)
• Darwinism displaced polygenism by translating might-right into upstart class language (similarity 0.82)
• Darwinism converted racial pride into defensive anxiety about survival (similarity 0.79)
• Darwin’s incidental human-race references let racists claim his authority. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Biological race theory predates Darwin and supported colonialism #expands (0.75) — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 77
• German and French race-thinking served opposite political purposes #complicates (0.72)
• Evolutionist doctrines translated middle-class ambition into biological race hierarchy #complicates (0.72)
• Polygenism justified colonial intermarriage bans and mixed-race discrimination #complicates (0.72)