Adopted Territory

Since the end of the Korean War, an estimated 200,000 children from South Korea have been adopted into white families in North America, Europe, and Australia. While these transnational adoptions were initiated as an emergency measure to find homes for mixed-race children born in the aftermath of the war, the practice grew exponentially from the 1960s through the 1980s. Most of the adoptees were raised with little exposure to Koreans or other Korean adoptees, but as adults, they have come into increasing contact with each other, Korean culture, and the South Korean state. Since the 1990s, as Korean children have continued to leave to be adopted in the West, a growing number of adult adoptees have been returning to Korea to learn about their cultural and biological origins. In this fascinating ethnography, Eleana J. Kim examines the history of Korean adoption, the emergence of a distinctive adoptee collective identity, and adoptee returns to Korea.

Status: 1 in stock (can be backordered)

Published: 2010

Publisher: Duke University Press

Format: Softcover

ISBN: 0822346951

ID#: 3514

DC#: 362.734 Ki