Affective Archives of the Disappeared

Abstract

In this article, we consider the memory practices of families whose loved ones were forcibly disappeared during periods of political violence. The families of the disappeared live with an ambiguous loss, often in highly insecure contexts and state denial. Families maintain memory practices to keep loved ones present with them, refuse dehumanizing violence, and fuel hope. Such memory practices come into relation through acts of grief, love, and care for the missing, and constitute what we refer to as affective archives of the disappeared. Affective archives generate new ways of knowing and being in the face of not knowing and the rupture of losing a loved one. We see these practices as entangled in transitional justice (TJ) efforts, compelling states or international actors into action; but they also serve a purpose that exceeds the domain of TJ, offering alternate sites of life as possibility. Of relevance to this Special Issue, the concept of affective archives offers ways of approaching localization not as norm diffusion, empowerment, or local agency, but as pathways to epistemic justice.