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

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The Transnational Adoption Industrial Complex: an Analysis of Nation, Citizenship, and the Korean Diaspora THE TRANSNATIONAL ADOPTION INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX: AN ANALYSIS OF NATION, CITIZENSHIP, AND THE KOREAN DIASPORA DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Kimberly Devon McKee Graduate Program in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies The Ohio State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Professor Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, Advisor Professor Lynn Itagaki Professor Eleana J. Kim Professor Wendy Smooth Copyright by Kimberly Devon McKee 2013 Abstract 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. ii 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. iii Dedication To Beesh and Ken iv Acknowledgments This work is a reflection of the past six years critically examining the complexities of adoption. I consider it a bookend to questions I began asking as a teen in Yell-OH Girls!, an anthology of young female Asian American voices. I would like to thank my mentor and advisor, Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, for her encouragement throughout my time at Ohio State. I am also deeply indebted to my committee members, Eleana J. Kim, Lynn Itagaki, and Wendy Smooth. Yet, this project would not be what it is today without my previous advisors. Many thanks to Kimberly Springer, who invited me to return to the States in 2010 after completing a year under her direction in London. Also, Jane Lewis, thank you for supporting the growth of my initial seeds of interest as a Master’s student. This dissertation greatly benefited from the support of mentors and colleagues in the academy. The faculty in the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Asian American Studies continue to be unbelievable supporters of my project. I value the input I received from Morgan Liu and Shannon Winnubst as I wrote early chapter drafts on the transnational adoption industrial complex and citizenship, respectively. I am appreciative of the professional development advice I received from Jill Bystydzienski and Linda Mizejewski. Thank you to Mitch Lerner for providing me the opportunity to v serve on the Institute for Korean Studies Advisory Board. I must also acknowledge Rebecca Nelson for being a continuous source of advice and encouragement. Thank you to those who provided feedback as I presented chapter drafts at the following conferences: Association for Asian American Studies, Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture , St. John’s Adoption Initiative Conference, Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network, and Second International Korean Adoption Studies Symposium. Many thanks to Linnea Anderson at the University of Minnesota Social Welfare History Archives for ensuring my time there was productive. I am indebted to the information provided by the Child Welfare League of America records, Children’s Home Society of Minnesota records, International Social Service - American Branch records, and Leonard Mayo papers. Thank you to the various sources of internal and external funding. In particular, the following internal sources provided me the opportunity to travel to conferences and conduct archival research: Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies’ Elizabeth D. Gee Grant, Arts and Humanities Small Grants program, College of Arts and Sciences G. Micheal Riley Academic Fund, Council of Graduate Students’ Ray Travel Award, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Diversity and Identity Studies Collective, and Asian American Studies program. A special thanks to the U.S. State Department Critical Language Scholarship Program, the Research Center for the Korean Community at City University of New York Queens, and the Social Science Research Council Korean Studies Dissertation Workshop. vi Special thanks must be given to members of History 881.01 and 881.02 for reading early versions of dissertation chapters as well as those in our dissertation writing group. In particular, the intellectual friendships with Tyran Steward, Jeff Vernon and Adrienne Winans provided new insights into how this project intersects with the work conducted in modern U.S. history. Within my department, the continual conversations with Denise Fuller and Sierra Austin remain instrumental in shaping how this scholarship intervenes in ethnic studies. I value my conversations with members of the Diversity and Identity Studies Collective and Graduate Pan Asian Caucus. I greatly appreciated the laughs and conversation with Annabelle Estera and Mao Vang. This project has also benefited from conversations with Sarah Park Dahlen, Kim Park Nelson, Kelly Condit- Shrestha, JaeRan Kim, and Jennifer Kwon Dobbs. Lastly, thank you to Laura Smith and Ed Andrews for providing support when I was living in London. A heartfelt thanks to my family and community, who is bounded by adoption. To my mom and Steve, thank you for encouraging me to pursue my doctorate in 2009 and overall support of my intellectual pursuits. To my dad and Abby, thank you for your continued encouragement. To my brothers and sisters, thank you for keeping me grounded. To the Gnann-Miller family for being a source of support and never-ending encouragement while I lived in Columbus. Finally, York, thank you for your unwavering support as I pursued my career in academia in both London and Columbus. This career would not be the same without you, Ashley and Max in my life. vii Vita 2005................................................................B.A. International Affairs, The George Washington University 2007................................................................M.Sc. Gender and Social Policy, The London School of Economics 2010 to 2013 ..................................................Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, The Ohio State University Publications • “Claiming Ourselves as ‘Korean’: Accounting for Adoptees within the Korean Diaspora in the United States” in Click and Kin: Transnational Identity and Quick Media, edited by May Friedman and Silvia Schultermandl (In Progress) • “Real versus Fictive Kinship: Legitimating the Adoptive Family” in Critical Kinship Studies: Kinship (Trans)Formed, edited by Charlotte Kroløkke, Lene Myong, and Stine Wilum Adrian (In Progress) • “Adoption of Asian Children” in Encyclopedia of Asian American Culture, edited by Lan Dong. (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO/Greenwood) (Under Contract) • “Asian Americans and Popular Culture” in Encyclopedia of Asian American Culture, edited by Lan Dong. (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO/Greenwood) (Under Contract) • Review of Reframing Transracial Adoption: Adopted Koreans, White Parents, and the Politics of Kinship by Kristi Brian, (Temple University Press, 2012), in Adoption and Culture (Invited, Forthcoming Spring 2014) • Review of Meeting Once More: The Korean Side of Transnational Adoption by Elise M. Prébin, (New York University Press, 2013), in Adoption and Culture (Invited, Forthcoming Spring 2014) viii • “Connecting to My Story Through Adoption Community Connection.” Adoption Today (March 2012) • “Silence, Citizenship and Gender: The Status of Women and Intercountry Adoption in Korea” in Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Korean Adoption Studies. Edited by Kim Park Nelson, Tobias Hübinette, Eleana Kim, Jennifer Kwon Dobbs, and Lena Myong, (Seoul: Korea University, 2011) pp. 1-17. • Review of Mom: The Transformation
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