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Inhabiting Mourning: Spectral Figures in Cases of Extrajudicial Executions (False Positives) in Colombia
Author(s) -
Aranguren Romero Juan Pablo,
Cardona Santofimio Juan Nicolás,
Agudelo Hernández Juan Ángel
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
bulletin of latin american research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.24
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1470-9856
pISSN - 0261-3050
DOI - 10.1111/blar.13104
Subject(s) - impossibility , closure (psychology) , impunity , economic justice , sociology , criminology , epistemology , law and economics , environmental ethics , political science , law , philosophy , politics
In this article we analyse various forms of emotional management of mourning in the experiences of six female relatives of victims of extrajudicial executions in Colombia. Referencing the concept of the ‘spectral’, we discuss the ways in which family members establish ways of living with mourning that emphasise the impossibility of achieving closure, and explore the ways in which they keep the wounds of their suffering open as a means of organising themselves politically, in pursuit of justice. The article suggests an alternative to a teleology of closure, suggesting that, in contexts of impunity such as the one prevailing in Colombia, mourning becomes a scenario of habitability.