Transnational Adoption and European Immigration Politics: Producing the National Body in Sweden
This article explores the role of transnational adoption in the production of a multicultural but Swedish national body during the second half of the twentieth and the first decade of the twenty-first century, when Sweden became a multiethnic, multicultural, and racially divided country. I examine the development of international adoption policies in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, emphasizing the erasure of the child's connection to a preadoptive past, even as the child's cultural difference was celebrated in adopting nations. In Sweden, which in the late 1970s and early 1980s had the world's highest adoption ratio (number of transnational adoptions per 1000 live births), debates about the Swedishness of the adoptee and the difference of the immigrant child underscored the assumption that the former but not the latter could become completely Swedish, while hinting at the (in)significance of race in constituting Swedish identity. My research situates transnational adoption in the context of technologies of exclusion that regulate the national body and the complex position of the adoptee as an incorporated but excluded other in adopting nations.
Trends in intercountry adoption: Analysis of data from 20 receiving countries, 1998–2004
The implications of developments in intercountry adoption worldwide in the early years of the twenty-first century are explored, based on analysis of data from 20 receiving countries. Between 1998 and 2004, intercountry adoption increased by 42 per cent. Problems in data collection and analysis are examined, as is the reliability of estimates of numbers of children sent by countries of origin when derived from data provided by receiving countries. Also considered are various measures of standardization which can be used to facilitate comparison between countries and show trends over time. The potential for more detailed comparative analysis is explored.
Evaluating Cultural Authenticity in Multicultural Picture Books: A Collaborative Analysis for Diversity Education
This study examines cultural authenticity reflected in multicultural picture books. Specifically, this study attempts to reframe issues surrounding the topic of cultural authenticity based on a systematic and empirical analysis of picture books that represent three different ethnic groups: African Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans. A total of forty-five systematically selected picture books that represent fifteen books per ethnic group were selected and evaluated by multiple reviewers who were insiders of the culture. A coding scheme was developed to evaluate each book in terms of profile of major and minor characters, settings of the story, stereotypical features, and cultural authenticity. An in-depth evaluation of all selected books was added by a team of three reviewers in order to validate the results of the coded analysis. This study aims to shed light on library youth services and diversity education in a society with increasing ethnic diversity.