De La Filiation de l’homme aux « zoos humains » : les dérives spectaculaires du darwinisme à la fin du XIXe siècle

This paper focuses on Darwin’s anthropology as it was developed in The Descent of Man, and on the misinterpretations undergone by his legacy in Europe and the United States, at the end of the 19th century. As indigenous inhabitants from colonised territories were exhibited in what has been described as « human zoos », the theory of evolution was used to justify the imperialistic ranking of peoples. This paper examines these spectacular excesses, inspired by Darwin’s theory, and looks at the relations between science and ideology