As sustainable clothing is a global issue, we pride ourselves on being well-informed citizens of the world.
As you no doubt already know, Madonna has plans to adopt another African child from the southern country of Malawi — “because [her three-year-old Malawian son] David needs a brother or sister,” she told the press.
In the age of Brangelina’s world-tour adoption practices, such a move will be perceived as noble by many people. Adopting from impoverished countries rescues a helpless child from a would-be impoverished adulthood. Or so the theory goes.
Human rights groups are criticizing Madonna for “child trafficking” because she has used her power and influence to skirt laws that would normally slow and possibly obstruct the adoption process altogether. Some have even called her a bully.
While I won’t go that far, I will say that until recently, I had a relatively positive take on foreign adoptions. I’d bought into the idea that adoptive parents from the West really were saving poor kids from terrible lives. And then I read a lengthy, investigative piece on the issue by EJ Graff in Foreign Policy, a 39-year-old magazine devoted to “global politics, economics, and ideas.”
“The Lie We Love” explains the corruption that often lurks just below the surface in foreign adoptions. Graff, a lawyer, journalist and senior researcher at Brandeis University’s Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism, takes an almost scholarly approach to the topic. She investigates, probes, analyzes and presents her information with a careful attention to detail and the facts. She’s not merely pounding her liberal fists on the table.
I recommend reading the piece before entering into a debate with friends over the Madonna case. If you do, you’ll be the most informed person in the room.