Social Study of Disappearance Lab - Incite at Columbia University

The Social Study of Disappearance Lab, established in 2023, is dedicated to exploring the social, political, and economic dimensions of disappearance—ranging from forced disappearances in Mexico to migrant vanishings across the Mediterranean.

We unite faculty, students, and collaborators in a collective effort to understand how these phenomena reveal shifts in state power, criminal networks, and social structures. Through interdisciplinary research, digital ethnography, and historical analysis, we seek not only to deepen academic understanding but also to inform public policy and support affected communities.

In international law, the definition of forced disappearance has three elements: deprivation of liberty, involvement of government officials, including through acquiescence, and concealment of the whereabouts of a disappeared person. The Social Study of Disappearance Lab explores the deep social, political, and economic implications of forced disappearance as both a phenomenon and a method of governance. For the rise of disappearances in various world contexts offers a critical lens for understanding changing state structures. From the viewpoint of the old “pastoral state,” a disappeared person is neither alive nor dead and so cannot be governed. Moreover, contemporary disappearances are only occasionally carried out directly by state agents. Instead, the role of state “acquiescence” and collusion in disappearances has expanded, masking emerging strategies for violently regulating local economies and producing social order.

By analyzing cases of disappearance around the world, our lab investigates how these practices reveal shifting state capacities, the influence of criminal networks, and the socio-political impact on affected communities. Through interdisciplinary research and pedagogy, our lab provides a platform for faculty and students to collaboratively examine the structures enabling disappearances, utilizing diverse methodological approaches: from digital ethnography to historical analysis. We pursue a collective, comparative approach to materialize the social presence of absent, abducted persons as a vital piece of understanding contemporary political life.

Working Groups

The Social Study of Disappearance Lab hosts thematic working groups that advance the comparative and collaborative study of disappearance. These groups bring together faculty, researchers, and students to explore specific dimensions of disappearance across different regional and political contexts.

Current Working Group:
The Role of 'Context Analysis of Disappearance' for Memory, Truth, and Justice

• Start Date: October 2024
• Conveners: Sonja Perkič-Krempl and Claudio Lomnitz