Abstract

MACLEOD, Morna. Entre la desaparición y el desplazamiento forzado en México. Vivencias de dos mujeres buscadoras. Cultura representaciones soc [online]. 2023, vol.17, n.34, e0002006.  Epub Oct 20, 2023. ISSN 2007-8110.

It is essential to comprehend the interconnected nature of different forms of violence in Mexico, such as kidnapping or forced disappearance of persons and forced internal displacement. Mapping these connections enhances a more complex understanding, in which violence moves bodies and subjectivities along a sinuous road of terror and impunity. In the following article, I undertake an analysis of the concepts of (forced) disappearance and forced internal displacement, tracking their genealogies particularly in Latin America. I suggest that as well as forced disappearance -typified by the United Nations which includes the responsibility of the state- in Mexico disappearance is also practiced by organized crime (at times, in collusion with the State). I approach the issue from an ethnographical viewpoint, based on testimonies or stories of the lives and struggles of two women -from Guerrero and Veracruz respectively. I understand that these illustrate Scheper-Hughes and Bourgois’ notion of a continuum of violence (2004), or appear as webs of violence. Thus, I trace the continuum of violences they and their loved ones have encountered. In this way, I show the interconnected nature of violences which are often studied separately -though experienced simultaneously- such as disappearance, femicide, extrajudicial killing and forced internal displacement. I also trace the struggles, resistances and participation of the two women in collectives of relatives of the disappeared and the impacts these organizational experiences have had on them in the search for their missing kin.

Keywords : Internal forced displacement; forced disappearance; organized crime; struggle; testimonies; Mexico; Guerrero; Veracruz.