Final answer:
Social Darwinism is a social theory misderived from Darwin's evolution theory that suggests human societies naturally select the 'fittest' individuals to succeed. It has been used to justify inequality and has roots in the ideas of Herbert Spencer and the eugenics movement. Despite its influence in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it is widely discredited today.
Step-by-step explanation:
Social Darwinism is a socio-political theory that draws from a misapplication of Charles Darwin's biological evolution theory. It advocates that human societies also undergo a natural selection process, where only the strongest or fittest individuals should ideally thrive, just as in the natural world. Propounded by Herbert Spencer with the term survival of the fittest, social Darwinism has been used to justify various social policies throughout the 19th and 20th centuries that support laissez-faire capitalism, imperialism, and racism, under the notion that aiding the less successful would be akin to interfering with nature's way of weeding out the unfit.
Herbert Spencer and sociologist William Graham Sumner are prominent figures associated with the propagation of social Darwinism. This concept has been criticized heavily for promoting inequality and was utilized by theories such as eugenics, which led to discriminatory practices. Social Darwinism operated under the belief that economic and social disparities were a result of natural inequalities among individuals and races, rather than acknowledging factors such as privilege, education, and equal opportunities.