Belonging in an adopted world : race, identity, and transnational adoption PDF
Preview Belonging in an adopted world : race, identity, and transnational adoption
Belonging in an Adopted World The Chicago Series in Law and Society Edited by John M. Conley and Lynn Mather Also in the series: Invitation to Law and Society: An Introduction to the Study of Real Law by Kitty Calavita Making Rights Real: Activists, Bureaucrats, and the Creation of the Legalistic State by Charles R. Epp Lawyers on the Right: Professionalizing the Conservative Coalition by Ann Southworth Arguing with Tradition: The Language of Law in Hopi Tribal Court by Justin B. Richland Speaking of Crime: The Language of Criminal Justice by Lawrence M. Solan and Peter M. Tiersma Human Rights and Gender Violence: Translating International Law into Social Justice by Sally Engle Merry Just Words, Second Edition: Law, Language, and Power by John M. Conley and William M. O’Barr Distorting the Law: Politics, Media, and the Litigation Crisis by William Haltom and Michael McCann Justice in the Balkans: Prosecuting War Crimes in the Hague Tribunal by John Hagan Rights of Inclusion: Law and Identity in the Life Stories of Americans with Disabilities by David M. Engel and Frank W. Munger The Internationalization of Palace Wars: Lawyers, Economists, and the Contest to Transform Latin American States by Yves Dezalay and Bryant G. Garth Free to Die for Their Country: The Story of the Japanese American Draft Resisters in World War II by Eric L. Muller Additional series titles follow index. Belonging in an Adopted World Race, Identity, and Transnational Adoption Barbara Yngvesson The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London Barbara Yngvesson is professor of anthro- Library of Congress pology at Hampshire College, the author or Cataloging-i n- Publication Data coauthor of two previous volumes, and an associate editor at American Anthropologist. Belonging in an adopted world : race, identity, and transnational adoption / The University of Chicago Press, Barbara Yngvesson. Chicago 60637 p.(cid:4)cm. — (The Chicago series in law The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London and society) ©(cid:2)2010 by The University of Chicago Includes bibliographical references and index. All rights reserved. Published 2010 ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 96446- 1 (cloth : alk. paper) Printed in the United States of America ISBN- 10: 0- 226- 96446- 9 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 96447- 8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10(cid:4)(cid:4)1 2 3 4 5 ISBN- 10: 0- 226- 96447- 7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Intercountry adoption. 2. Interracial adop- ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 96446- 1 (cloth) tion. 3. Interethnic adoption. 4. Intercountry ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 96447- 8 (paper) adoption—Law and legislation. 5. Inter- ISBN- 10: 0- 226- 96446- 9 (cloth) country adoption—Sweden. 6. Intercountry ISBN- 10: 0- 226- 96447- 7 (paper) adoption—India. I. Yngvesson, Barbara, 1941– II. Series: Chicago series in law and society. HV875.5.B44 2010 362.734—dc22 2009029586 o The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48- 1992. For my son, Finn and In memory of my mother, Julia Belton Contents Acknowledgments / ix A Letter / 1 Prologue / 3 1 • The Safehouse of Identity / 11 2 • The Only Thing We Can Give Away Is Children / 39 3 • National Resources / 59 4 • A Child of Any Color / 89 5 • Early Disturbances / 105 6 • The Body within the Body / 123 7 • Return / 144 Epilogue / 173 Appendix / 177 Notes / 185 References / 211 Index / 227 Acknowledgments I am deeply indebted to the individuals and organizations whose generos- ity made this work possible. Many of the people mentioned here provided me with hours of taped interviews over a period of years and graciously allowed me to take part in workshops, conferences, and a range of meet- ings involving adoption organizations and children’s homes, representa- tives of receiving and sending nations, and the concerns of transnational adoptees. I could not have carried out the research without their interest and engagement; however, they do not endorse this project or the analysis I present here. I am especially indebted to Adoption Centre (AC) in Stockholm, Swe- den, which provided the ethnographic starting point for my research, and to Gunilla Andersson, Annika Grünewald, Ann-C harlotte Gudmundsson, Eva Hedén, Monica Lind, Birgitta Löwstedt, and Elisabet Sandberg, who responded to my questions and in some cases spent weeks in my company visiting children’s homes in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and India. Annika, Gunilla, and Monica opened their homes to me, as well as provid- ing invaluable information and support. I am grateful to Elisabet Sandberg, administrative director of AC during the fi rst period of my research, who shared her extensive knowledge of Swedish and international adoption law with me and arranged for presentations of my work at adoption-r elated events in Stockholm, including a stimulating and productive seminar in 2006 at Stockholm University, as a guest of professor of ethnology Lena Gerholm. Eva Hedén and Elisabet Sandberg also helped me obtain permis- sions for illustrations in the book. And I appreciate Ewa Westman’s highly professional and sensitive transcription of my Swedish interviews. Although the base of my research was in Sweden, I also spent many weeks in India and South America, accompanying staff of AC on trips to children’s homes and visits to aid projects funded by the Swedish Interna- tional Development Agency. I am grateful to individuals and organizations in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai, and particularly to Nom ita Chandy, secretary of the Ashraya Children’s Home in B angalore;
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