Catholic humanitarianism and transnational adoptions of orphaned Indian Youth (Belgium, 1970-1984)

During the so-called ‘Trente Glorieuses’, intercountry adoption gained momentum as an emergency measure to rescue ‘endangered’ children from war-torn and hazardous areas, but also as an alternative and progressive family-building strategy for childless Westerners. In Belgium, as well as in other Euro-American nations, adoption initiatives were pioneered by religious philanthropists, who had moreover been key players in child displacements in the pre-war decades. This chapter explores the migratory flow of orphaned Indian children to Belgium in the 1970s and 1980s from the vantage point of the Catholic adoption agency that mediated the majority of these relocations. The first part sheds light on the Catholic framing of these adoptions and the practices and discourses that rendered the children into adoptable orphans. The second part investigates the friction that arose between the private, voluntary agency and the increase of supra-national governmentality in adoption practices. Both parts work in tandem to discern the intersections of power and care that shaped the relocations of the children, while expanding our conception of ‘biopolitics’ beyond the confines of secular and national population control.

ISBN:978-1-138-35425-8

Publication year:2020

Keywords:H1 Book chapter

BOF-keylabel:yes

Accessibility:Closed