Topic: Discrimination and stigma (racial, ethnic, cultural and adoption)
Author
Lorelie Tummers, Utrecht University, Cultural Anthropology, Utrecht, Netherlands (Presenting Author)
1 Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
Background/significance
In the past six decades approximately 40.000 children entered the Netherlands as transnational adoptees. In most cases, these are children of colour who are adopted into white families. This project investigates the experiences of adoptees of colour in the Netherlands, asking: how does this group experience race and racism in a supposedly colourblind society?
Aim
It studies 1) racialization in the everyday lives of adoptees of colour and the development of racial literacy; 2) adoptees’ experiences of racism and its effects on wellbeing; and 3) the strategies developed by adoptees of colour to confront these experiences.
Project description or research methods
The project employs ethnographic methods, including participatory observation (in family homes, during events organized by and for adoptees, and during “roots trips” to countries of origin), semi-structured and life history interviews, and an analysis of online communities.
Results
This project takes a community-based participatory research approach, collaborating with adoptees of colour. These experiential experts will engage in reflexive dialogue in multiple phases of the project and will help to ensure that the outcomes of this project will be meaningful and relevant for the community of adoptees of colour in the Netherlands.
Discussion and implications
Theoretically, it contributes to debates about racial ideas in intimate settings, the well- being of European adoptees with attention for their experiences with race and racism, and racialization in mobility studies. On a societal level, it deepens our understanding of how Dutch identity is renegotiated in an increasingly diverse society and strengthens support structures for adoptees, deemed crucial for the wellbeing of this often- overlooked group by recent research reports.
