Adoption and the Governing of Child Welfare in 20th Century Quito.
In this article, I draw from historical and ethnographic research in Quito, Ecuador, to describe changes in adoption and child welfare policies from the mid to the late 20th century. Child care transference practices were carried out in relations marked by power inequalities, and in contexts charact...
| Publicado en: | Journal of Latin American & Caribbean Anthropology Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 68 - 92 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Wiley-Blackwell
April 2009
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| Sumario: | In this article, I draw from historical and ethnographic research in Quito, Ecuador, to describe changes in adoption and child welfare policies from the mid to the late 20th century. Child care transference practices were carried out in relations marked by power inequalities, and in contexts characterized by class difference and defined by racial oppositions. I argue that child welfare policies and the administration of adoptions formed part of civilizing projects of citizenship which implied the exclusion of specific groups and categories of persons. These exclusionary practices are analyzed through a focus on shifting public understandings of relatedness and childhood. I also compare child welfare policies and legislation with Andean child circulation practices, and discuss how the distance between the basic principles of formal adoption and popular practices has increased as the project of citizenship comes nearer to an ideal of all-inclusiveness. Reprinted by permission of the publisher. |
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