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.

1. Introduction: Exploring Swedish Adoption Desire.- 2. Race, Colonialism, Eugenics, and International Adoption in Sweden.- 3. From Flat-Packed Furniture to Fascism: Transracial Adoptees in Myths of Swedish Goodness.- 4. Eating the [M]Other: Consumption Fantasies in Swedish Adoption Narratives.- 5. “Too Brown to be Swedish, Too Swedish to be Anything Else”: Mimicry and Menace in Swedish Adoption Narratives.- 6. Representation and Resistance: Challenging Swedish Adoption Desire.- 7. Conclusion.