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Palgrave Macmillan

Exploring Swedish International Adoption Desire

Transracial Bodies and Nation-Building in the ‘Goodest’ Country

  • Book
  • © 2023

Overview

Authors:
  1. Richey Wyver

    1. Sociology Department, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

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  • Challenges nationalistic ideas of exceptionalism and colonial amnesia
  • Includes directions for future research in critical adoption studies
  • Emphasises the need for meaningful scholarly discussion about the international adoption industry

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction: Exploring Swedish Adoption Desire

    • Richey Wyver
    Pages 1-17

  3. Race, Colonialism, Eugenics, and International Adoption in Sweden

    • Richey Wyver
    Pages 19-44

  4. From Flat-Packed Furniture to Fascism: Transracial Adoptees in Myths of Swedish Goodness

    • Richey Wyver
    Pages 45-66

  5. Eating the [M]Other: Consumption Fantasies in Swedish Adoption Narratives

    • Richey Wyver
    Pages 67-90

  6. “Too Brown to Be Swedish, Too Swedish to Be Anything Else”: Mimicry and Menace in Swedish Adoption Narratives

    • Richey Wyver
    Pages 91-113

  7. Representation and Resistance: Challenging Swedish Adoption Desire

    • Richey Wyver
    Pages 115-142

  8. Conclusion

    • Richey Wyver
    Pages 143-154

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 155-159
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Keywords

About this book

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.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Sociology Department, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Richey Wyver

About the author

Richey Wyver, PhD, is a Learning Designer and Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Having lived in Sweden for several years, he graduated with an MA in International Migration and Ethnic Relations from Malmö University, before pursuing a PhD in Sociology in Auckland. His doctoral research forms the basis of this book. Dr Wyver’s research interests also cover racism and anti-racism, and environmental sociology and sustainability.

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