Disablism, racism and the spectre of eugenics in digital welfare

Abstract

This article explores the historical ties between the digital welfare state and eugenics, highlighting how the use of data infrastructures for classification and governance in the digital era has roots in eugenic data practices and ideas. Through an analysis of three domains of automated decision-making – child welfare, immigration and disability benefits – the article demonstrates how these automated systems perpetuate hierarchical divisions originally shaped by ableist eugenic race science. It underscores the importance of critically engaging with this historical context of data utilisation, emphasising its entanglement with eugenic perspectives on racial, physical and mental superiority, individual and social worth, and the categorisation of data subjects as deserving or undeserving. By engaging with this history, the article provides a deeper understanding of the contemporary digital welfare state, particularly in terms of its discriminatory divisions based on race and disability, which are deeply intertwined.