Periodic Reporting for period 4 - DigitalMemories (We are all Ayotzinapa: The role of Digital Media in the Shaping of Transnational Memories on Disappearance)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2021-01-01 al 2021-12-31
The "Digital Memories" project studies the phenomenon of contemporary disappearances in Mexico, focusing on the case of the disappearance of the 43 students from Ayotzinapa in September 2014.
The crime of ‘enforced disappearance’ is considered one of the most heinous human rights violations. Despite the international legal framework specifically aimed at protecting persons, disappearances continue to be committed around the globe. In Mexico, over 90,000 persons have been disappeared since 2006 in the context of the so-called ‘war on drugs’.
The circumstances in which disappearances occur are no longer limited to authoritarian regimes or dictatorships, and the motives, perpetrators and victims are plural. To understand this complex phenomenon, “Digital Memories” examines the historical, social, political and legal background of the phenomenon of disappearances in Mexico, both in the past and in the present, as well as in the context of the Latin American history of disappearances. A comprehensive approach makes it possible to look at disappearance as a device with different functions, historical mutations and structural features, and to assess the role of the State in these changing configurations.
A second objective of the project is to shed light on how civil society mobilizes to denounce and fight against disappearances. Ayotzinapa represents an emblematic case of global protest, in which digital media is used in innovative ways. Central to the Ayotzinapa social movement is how it connects the current disappearance of the 43 students with a long history of human rights violations in the country thus transforming social media into powerful mnemonic agents.
On a theoretical level, the project seeks to conceptualize the reconfiguration of collective memory under the impact of the digital turn. How is collective memory shaped in the digital era? Does digital media drive an ontological shift in what memory is and what memory does? Understanding this new configuration is essential to assess how our relationship with the past is currently being transformed in a digital scenario and how this impacts the building of a more democratic future.
The crime of ‘enforced disappearance’ is considered one of the most heinous human rights violations. Despite the international legal framework specifically aimed at protecting persons, disappearances continue to be committed around the globe. In Mexico, over 90,000 persons have been disappeared since 2006 in the context of the so-called ‘war on drugs’.
The circumstances in which disappearances occur are no longer limited to authoritarian regimes or dictatorships, and the motives, perpetrators and victims are plural. To understand this complex phenomenon, “Digital Memories” examines the historical, social, political and legal background of the phenomenon of disappearances in Mexico, both in the past and in the present, as well as in the context of the Latin American history of disappearances. A comprehensive approach makes it possible to look at disappearance as a device with different functions, historical mutations and structural features, and to assess the role of the State in these changing configurations.
A second objective of the project is to shed light on how civil society mobilizes to denounce and fight against disappearances. Ayotzinapa represents an emblematic case of global protest, in which digital media is used in innovative ways. Central to the Ayotzinapa social movement is how it connects the current disappearance of the 43 students with a long history of human rights violations in the country thus transforming social media into powerful mnemonic agents.
On a theoretical level, the project seeks to conceptualize the reconfiguration of collective memory under the impact of the digital turn. How is collective memory shaped in the digital era? Does digital media drive an ontological shift in what memory is and what memory does? Understanding this new configuration is essential to assess how our relationship with the past is currently being transformed in a digital scenario and how this impacts the building of a more democratic future.
“Digital Memories” conducted an interdisciplinary analysis of the practice of disappearances in Mexico, from the period of the so-called ‘dirty war’ to the current crisis of disappearances associated with the country’s ‘war on drugs’, focusing on four broad axes of enquiry. We examined the phenomenon of disappearances in its historical and present-day forms, and the struggles for memory around the disappeared in Mexico. We addressed the political dimensions of disappearances, focusing on the specificities that this practice acquires in the context of the counterinsurgency struggle of the 1970s and the so-called ‘war on drugs’. From a legal perspective, we situated the issue within the framework of human rights law by examining the legal aspects of disappearances. Finally, we explored the social movement led by the relatives of the disappeared. This analysis offers an integral understanding of the historical, socio-political and legal context of the phenomenon of disappearances in Mexico.
Situated in this broader context, “Digital Memories” analysed the Ayotzinapa’s case with an ecological approach to the activism and the constructions of collective memory, which allowed us to understand how the different components of the digital ecology are intertwined and make sense. Departing from the main hashtags used in Twitter, we applied quantitative methods and multimodal analysis to trace these hashtags in the media ecology, including other platforms as well as performances, documentaries, films and street actions. The analysis shows not only the way in which the digital media ecology performs meaning through the flows and interactions of its distinct components, but also the underlying connections between present and past. The findings challenge some of the most widespread assumptions about Mexico as a country “without memory”, as well as about the relationship between social media described in terms of its instantaneity and immediacy and the role of such media as mnemonic agents.
Regarding the conceptualization of digital memory, the project thoroughly examined the debate and concluded that it is marked by a fundamental ambiguity regarding the definition of ‘digital memory’. This ambiguity concerns the different ways in in which each of the terms –‘memory’ and ‘digital’, as well as the relationship between the two– are conceptualized. The different conceptions underlying the definition involve two types of memory at play in the debate: a memory defined in computational terms (‘computational memory’), and a memory defined in anthropocentric terms (‘human memory’). The essence of the debates concerns the relationship between the two: whether the two are conceived in opposite ways; whether they function in terms of analogy, one acting as a model for the other; or whether, although they are not identical, there is no principled difference between the two and, consequently, in contemporary media ecology, they cannot be thought of separately. Based on this hypothesis, and drawing on an understanding of concepts as ‘dynamic tools’ we delved into the underlying assumptions of the distinct visions of ‘memory’ and ‘digital’. This approach shed light into the ruptures and continuities between the previous broadcast era and the contemporary semiotic environment determined by the ubiquity of digital media.
Situated in this broader context, “Digital Memories” analysed the Ayotzinapa’s case with an ecological approach to the activism and the constructions of collective memory, which allowed us to understand how the different components of the digital ecology are intertwined and make sense. Departing from the main hashtags used in Twitter, we applied quantitative methods and multimodal analysis to trace these hashtags in the media ecology, including other platforms as well as performances, documentaries, films and street actions. The analysis shows not only the way in which the digital media ecology performs meaning through the flows and interactions of its distinct components, but also the underlying connections between present and past. The findings challenge some of the most widespread assumptions about Mexico as a country “without memory”, as well as about the relationship between social media described in terms of its instantaneity and immediacy and the role of such media as mnemonic agents.
Regarding the conceptualization of digital memory, the project thoroughly examined the debate and concluded that it is marked by a fundamental ambiguity regarding the definition of ‘digital memory’. This ambiguity concerns the different ways in in which each of the terms –‘memory’ and ‘digital’, as well as the relationship between the two– are conceptualized. The different conceptions underlying the definition involve two types of memory at play in the debate: a memory defined in computational terms (‘computational memory’), and a memory defined in anthropocentric terms (‘human memory’). The essence of the debates concerns the relationship between the two: whether the two are conceived in opposite ways; whether they function in terms of analogy, one acting as a model for the other; or whether, although they are not identical, there is no principled difference between the two and, consequently, in contemporary media ecology, they cannot be thought of separately. Based on this hypothesis, and drawing on an understanding of concepts as ‘dynamic tools’ we delved into the underlying assumptions of the distinct visions of ‘memory’ and ‘digital’. This approach shed light into the ruptures and continuities between the previous broadcast era and the contemporary semiotic environment determined by the ubiquity of digital media.
The research conducted by the Digital Memories project is contributing to progressing beyond the state of the art in the different relevant disciplines. In the emergent field of Digital Memory Studies, it advances the field by situating the concept of digital memory in its contexts of emergence and circulation and clarifying its uses. In the field of social movements and digital activism, it operationalizes the concept of “media ecology” by proposing a model to analyse the intertwining of content and practices across different media – including social media, visual objects, and textual inscriptions. Finally, the legal research goes beyond the state in the issue of disappearances committed by organised criminal groups. The combination of two disciplinary lenses suggests the need to further the discussion around methodological frameworks in human rights research, with a focus on both theory and practice.