Race, Kinship, and Diplomacy: The Transnational Politics of Adoption and Family in Scandinavia.

Objective

Race, Kinship, and Diplomacy (RKD) examines how transnational adoption shaped – and was shaped by – Scandinavian diplomacy, foreign policy, and human rights discourse between 1960 and 2000. Adoption is often treated as a private family matter, but this project reframes it as a politically charged practice connecting intimate relationships to global power dynamics. Focusing on Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, RKD explores how adoption became entangled with Nordic humanitarian self-images, moral diplomacy, and soft power. It introduces the innovative concept of “intimate diplomacy,” expanding diplomatic history to include adoptees, families, NGOs, and emotional and racialised narratives. By combining archival research, legal and discourse analysis, and oral histories, the project bridges micro-level lived experiences with macro-level foreign policy and international law. RKD has three main aims: (1) to identify the diplomatic and political implications of Scandinavian adoption practices, (2) to challenge idealised narratives of Nordic exceptionalism by revealing tensions between humanitarian ideals and legal accountability, and (3) to generate policy-relevant insights for contemporary debates on transparency, redress, and human rights. The project is timely, responding to recent national inquiries in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden that have uncovered systemic irregularities and abuses in adoption practices. By providing historical depth and empirical evidence, RKD will produce high-impact outputs including peer-reviewed articles, a digital exhibition, and a curated oral history collection. Hosted at the University of Oslo under the supervision of Professor Hanne Hagtvedt Vik, RKD will strengthen the researcher’s interdisciplinary expertise through advanced methodological training and collaboration. It will generate new knowledge with lasting academic, societal, and policy impact, while informing ongoing reforms in adoption governance.