Untangling Violent Legacies: Contemporary Organized Violence in Latin America and the Narrative of the “Failed Transition”

Abstract

In this article, disputes over the identification of persisting “legacies” of the past that participate in the constitution of present patterns of organized violence are discussed. It highlights the ways in which present forms of organized violence are often tied to past experiences of political violence in the context of transitional justice discourse, as serious contemporary human rights violations are framed as indicators of the failure of past transitional processes. This article then explores such disputes in the context of recent civil society debates in Mexico on the potential development of transitional justice mechanisms; and in the context of the Sub commission of Truth in Democracy “Mothers of Acari” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Keywords

• brazil
• legacies
• mexico
• organized violence
• transitional justice