Exploring Swedish International Adoption Desire : Transracial Bodies and Nation-Building in the ‘Goodest’ Country

This book is a critical study of international adoption in Sweden, based on analysis of adoption-related texts, images and videos. The author argues that representations of adoption, and specifically of the bodies of international, transracial adoptees, are used to create and sustain myths of Swedish exceptionalism, concealing the nation’s colonial, racist and eugenic histories. The book challenges the virtuous perception of international adoption, and exposes and critiques the underlying racism and violence of both the adoption industry and the shaping of Sweden as a ‘good’ nation. It will appeal to students and scholars of adoption and migration, as well as those engaged in anti-racism research. Acknowledgements Contents About the Author 1: Introduction: Exploring Swedish Adoption Desire The Adopting Nation Goodness Questioned Exploring Swedish Adoption Desire Research and Resistance Outline References 2: Race, Colonialism, Eugenics, and International Adoption in Sweden Challenging the Myths of Swedish Exceptionalism Race Biology, Race Hygiene, and Eugenics “The Whitest of the White”: Shared Belief in a Superior Swedish/Nordic Race and the Fear of Degeneration 1930s–1975: Eugenics in Practice The Post-WWII “Colour-Blind Turn”: The Domestication of Swedish National Identity International Adoption in Sweden Stages of International Adoption The Pioneers and “Naivists” Opening the Adoption Market Peak Years... And a Steady Decline From a Goodness Discourse to a Rights Discourse Present Situation Colonial Amnesia and Swedish Exceptionalism References 3: From Flat-Packed Furniture to Fascism: Transracial Adoptees in Myths of Swedish Goodness Adoption and the Rise and Fall of Swedish Goodness Good and Evil White Nationalists IKEA: Good White Nationalists? The Sweden Democrats: Evil White Nationalists? Comparing the Campaigns References 4: Eating the [M]Other: Consumption Fantasies in Swedish Adoption Narratives Eating the Other Adoption Texts Food Race Metaphors in a Colour-Blind Discourse Smooth and Coffee Coloured “The African Blood Pumps Through My Veins” Awakening Primordial Senses Reinforcing White Supremacist Patriarchal Structures References 5: “Too Brown to Be Swedish, Too Swedish to Be Anything Else”: Mimicry and Menace in Swedish Adoption Narratives Mimicry Mimicry and the Swedish Adoptee Desired for a Difference That Is Almost the Same In-Between Hyper-Visibility 100% Swedes: Excess and Disavowal Mimicry As Resistance? References 6: Representation and Resistance: Challenging Swedish Adoption Desire Myth The Chile–Sweden Adoption Scandal “No Más Silencio!” International Reporting Language as Resistance Fingerprints, Crime, and Punishment Myth and the Adoptee Body Disrupting Myth-Level Representation? Adopters Exnomination: Silences of Power The Privation of History The Inoculation of Evil: One Bad Apple The Passing of Good Sweden? References 7: Conclusion Summary Introduction: Exploring Swedish Adoption Desire Race, Colonialism, Eugenics, and International Adoption From Flat-Packed Furniture to Fascism: Transracial Adoptees in Myths of Swedish Goodness Eating the (M)Other: Consumption Fantasies in Swedish Adoption Narratives Too Brown to Be Swedish, Too Swedish to Be Anything Else: Mimicry and Menace in Swedish Adoption Narratives Representation and Resistance: Challenging Swedish Adoption Desire Overall Conclusion Resistance Reflections on the Future of Adoption and Critical Adoption Research References Index