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The Transnational Adoption Industrial Complex: An Analysis of Nation, Citizenship, and the Korean Diaspora

McKee, Kimberly Devon
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1373460152

Abstract Details

2013, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Womens Studies.
The Korean War (1950-1953) produced tremendous geopolitical effects, which shaped Cold War politics worldwide. The war also sparked the rise of transnational adoptions and positioned Korea as the primary leader of these global exchanges. Since the war’s end, more than 200,000 Korean children have been sent to the West. Two-thirds of these children entered the United States – the world’s largest receiving country of foreign adoptions. The majority of these Korean adoptees grew up in white families, making these kinship units not only transnational but also transracial. Utilizing South Korea as a case study, my dissertation investigates four implications of these transnational and transracial adoptions: (1) the growth of what I characterize as the transnational adoption industrial complex – a neo-colonial, multi-million dollar industry that commodifies children’s bodies; (2) Korean adoptees’ greater access to American citizenship and naturalization due to their membership in the white, heteronormative family compared to other Asian immigrants; (3) the adoptive families’ disruption of traditional white and Asian American families, which are largely conceptualized as a same-race, genetically related units; and (4) recognition of adoptees as adults, who are experts in their own experiences, rather than perpetual children continually spoken for by adoptive parents and adoption practitioners. Cumulatively, this research underscores how transnational, transracial adoption changes the American and Korean landscape. Drawing from archival sources, interviews, and adult adoptee print and online writings, I challenge the portrayal of international adoption as solely an act of humanitarianism and child rescue. Instead, I contend that adoption is linked to American Cold War ambitions, including the desire to promote democracy abroad. In other words, transnational adoption allowed everyday Americans to join in the fight against communism by providing future generations access to the American dream. Engaging the adoptive family as a site of national belonging, I also contribute to a more nuanced, differentiated understanding of what it means to be Asian and American in the United States. Lastly, this project recognizes the voices of Korean adoptees as legitimate subjects within the Korean diaspora.
Judy Tzu Chun Wu (Advisor)
Lynn Itagaki (Committee Member)
Eleana J. Kim (Committee Member)
Wendy Smooth (Committee Member)
356 p.
Asian American Studies; Asian Studies; Ethnic Studies; Families and Family Life; Womens Studies
international adoption; transracial adoption; korean adoption; kinship; citizenship; diaspora; korean war

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • McKee, K. D. (2013). The Transnational Adoption Industrial Complex: An Analysis of Nation, Citizenship, and the Korean Diaspora [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1373460152

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • McKee, Kimberly. The Transnational Adoption Industrial Complex: An Analysis of Nation, Citizenship, and the Korean Diaspora. 2013. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1373460152.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • McKee, Kimberly. "The Transnational Adoption Industrial Complex: An Analysis of Nation, Citizenship, and the Korean Diaspora." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1373460152

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.