Good families. The Moralization & Ethicization of Transnational Adoption

SÉMINAIRE / SEMINAR

CFEE Seminar on Contemporary Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa (2015-2016)

7^ème séance / 7^th session: “Good families. The Moralization & Ethicization of Transnational Adoption (France –Ethiopia)”, par/by Sébastien Roux (CNRS-LIST-Cas)

Mardi 15 mars 2016 (16h-17h30) / Tuesday March 15^th 2016 (4-5:30 PM). Lieu / Venue : Bibliothèque d’études éthiopiennes Berhanou Abebe (CFEE) / Berhanou Abebe Library of Ethiopian Studies (CFEE)

“Good families. The Moralization & Ethicization of Transnational Adoption (France –Ethiopia)”, par/by Sébastien Roux (CNRS-LIST-Cas)

Drawing on two ethnographic fieldworks conducted in France (2013) and Ethiopia (2015-2016), this communication questions how new moral values are framing and transforming the international circulation of children for adoption purposes. Nowadays, the Hague Convention of 1993 regulates inter-country adoption (ICA) worldwide, imposing new moral standards to avoid so-called trafficking. France signed it in 1998; Ethiopia has not so far.  However, even for countries that are not part of this convention, new practices emerge that put into question how these peculiar migrations are organized and regulated. As such, this communication will analyze how new political concerns emerge and affect governments and lives, showing the complex intricacies between nation and reproduction.

The speaker

Sébastien Roux is a CNRS researcher at the LISST-Cas in Toulouse. He teaches at the University of Toulouse and the EHESS (Paris). His research focuses on policies pertaining to children, gender and sexuality, on the sociology of affects, and on the anthropology of moralities. His current research on transnational adoption is funded by the French National Research Agency (program Ethopol: http://ethopol.hypotheses.org/)

Photo: © Sébastien Roux/Ethopol