The legitimacy of the State has always been a matter of great debate among thinkers of history. Far-reaching theories such as those created by Georg Hegel and Karl Marx were on a collision course when the reason was the existence and foundation of the State. It was in these discussions that the thesis of sociologist Zygmunt Bauman in relation to the concept of the Gardener State stood out.
The Gardener State is understood as the scientific discourse adopted by European politicians and scientists from the 19th century onwards, which, through the process of selection of species, wanted to create universal models and patterns of perfect societies that would move towards progress disconnected from problems biological. In his book entitled “Modernity and Ambivalence”, Bauman stated that modernity excessively guided by rational and scientific discourse, it sought the possibility of extinguishing all problems of race human.
Within the search for perfection, the State adopted the use of metaphors to explain the objectives of what would be social hygiene in Europe. This social hygiene practiced by the State was an analogy with the role of a gardener, who, in order to protect the healthy flowers in his garden, cut out the weeds. With this perspective, people who did not fit the standard established by the state were segregated or sterilized.
Physically or mentally handicapped people were seen as inferior and, therefore, would have to be socially excluded from the world, because the financial expenses with them were high for the State and hindered investments in people “healthy”. This practice was present within the ideology of modernity, in which this eagerness of science to dominate human nature led to major world catastrophes.
the birth of Nazismand fascism happened, above all, with the direct influence of the scientific concepts of modernity from the century onwards. XIX, as it was this heritage that totalitarian leaders such as Hitler and Mussolini inherited from the practice of the Gardener State. The price was high, with huge catastrophes breaking out in the world, among them the millions of Jews who paid with their lives for the mistaken practice of species selection.
By Fabricio Santos
Graduated in History
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiag/de-onde-veio-nazismo.htm