State of Disappearance

The book "State of Disappearance" explores the devastating impact of disappearance, highlighting its role as a form of violence that denies victims humanity and provides alibis to perpetrators. Through artistic testimony and critical voices, it examines extreme violence, the normalization of human vanishing, state and ideological complicity, and memorialization. It features contributions from theorists of violence and aims to recover humanity in the face of its annihilation.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 15 November 2023
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press

The devastating absence that characterizes disappearance represents a form of violence that tears open a wound in time, leaving no hope for recovery and no meaningful justice. It provides alibis for perpetrators while denying victims their humanity. For those who must live with its presence, the terror is infinite.

State of Disappearance is a powerful exploration of extreme violence, the normalization of human vanishing, state and ideological complicity, and memorialization. Through a combination of artistic testimony and critical voices, the book delves into deeper questions about these pressing issues.

The book is accompanied by a gallery of dedicated artworks by Mexican abstract painter Chantal Meza, which bring the aesthetic into critical conversation and contribute to a multidisciplinary collection that charts a new path for recovering humanity in the face of its annihilation.

Contributions from theorists of violence who are concerned with the issue of forcibly removing humans from the surface of the earth, as well as those who appreciate the complex layers of appearance and disappearance in the contemporary world, enrich the book's content.

State of Disappearance traverses the difficult terrain of human denial to rethink some of the most devastating chapters in human history and their enduring relevance to our lives. It is a thought-provoking and important contribution to the study of disappearance and its impact on individuals, communities, and societies.

Weight: 474g
Dimension: 153 x 230 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780228018964