No abstract

The article provides an examination of how adoption files, or expedientes, have “fissured” the legality of transnational adoption processes in Guatemala. By focusing on declarations and disclaimers as an entry point to explore controversies over adoption files, the article argues that files point to the “prior” histories of adoption that are intimately connected to local histories of violence in the country. Through the analysis of the politics inherent in these legal documents, and the legal frameworks regulating the production of adoption paperwork, the article offers a critical insight into the extra-judicial processes and forms of “exceptionalism” that made transnational adoptions possible in the thirty-year period between 1977 and 2007. At the same time, the analysis of declarations and disclaimers brings to light how the technologies of their production allow the emergence of “anti-social affects” that saturate, and internally disrupt, transnational adoption files. The article proposes a critical, “anti-social” analysis of international adoption, by illuminating the problems that come from taking for granted the values of futurity and reproduction in adoption studies.

No abstract

No abstract

Geoforum is a leading international, inter-disciplinary journal publishing innovative research and commentary in human geography and related fields. It is global in outlook and integrative in approach. The broad focus of Geoforum is the organisation of economic, political, social and environmental systems through space and over time. Areas of study range from the analysis of the global political economy, through political ecology, national systems of regulation and governance, to urban and regional development, feminist, economic and urban geographies and environmental justice and resources management. Geoforum publishes research articles that are conceptually-led and empirically-grounded, critical reviews of recent research, and editorial interventions. It also features a highly-regarded 'themed issue' format that enables a focused exploration of emergent and/or significant areas of inquiry. Benefits to authors We also provide many author benefits, such as free PDFs, a liberal copyright policy, special discounts on Elsevier publications and much more. Please click here for more information on our author services.