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Commodifying Return: The Political Economy of Tourism and Heritage Tours for Chinese Transnational Adoptees

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Abstract
The long-standing practice of U.S.-Chinese transnational adoption, especially during the late 20th century, cannot be disimbricated from critical discussions of the political economy, market logic, and the rhetorical decision to describe this process as benevolent. This project will investigate the commodification of U.S.-Chinese transnational adoption networks, the tourism industry surrounding return trips, and the exploitation of adoptees themselves. By analyzing shifting parental practices from U.S.-Korean transnational adoption to U.S.-Chinese adoption practices, it reveals how governments and other various organizations create more of an emotional investment into adoptees to engender a desire to return to China. Inflected by the works of scholars such as Kimberly McKee and Sara Dorow, I intend to engage in unconventional archival material (such as tour guide websites, adoptive parent forums) and documentaries in order to bring light to this specific interplay between the political economy, the transnational adoption industrial complex, and Chinese adoptees within the United States. This research will contribute to a dearth of knowledge regarding the commodification of return to China for adoptees and how these various organizations continue to invest in the market of transnational adoption.
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Thesis (Open Access)
Date
2024-09
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