Mellon Lecture: Massacres and Migrant Disappearances in Mexico

Anthropologist Claudio Lomnitz examines a series of high-profile massacres that transpired in Mexico just over a decade ago.

Why do some disappearances spark national outrage while others remain largely unseen?

Between 2010 and 2012, three major massacres, San Fernando I (known as the 'massacre of the 72'), San Fernando II (in which 193 bodies were unearthed, with many more likely undiscovered), and Cadereyta (49 bodies), shocked Mexico and drew international attention.

In this talk, Lomnitz contrasts these events with the far more frequent disappearances of small groups of migrants that rarely generate comparable public outcry, revealing how different forms of violence become politically recognized or remain obscured.

“The contrasts between these three related cases offer a window into the politics of silence and of scandal.” —Lomnitz

By examining the political and economic dynamics underlying these cases, Lomnitz explores how certain tragedies become emblematic while others remain largely invisible. The talk offers a deeper understanding of the politics of silence, scandal, and visibility surrounding migrant disappearances in Mexico.

About the Speaker

Claudio Lomnitz is the Campbell Family Professor and chair of Columbia University's Anthropology Department; he is also an elected member of Mexico's El Colegio Nacional. Among his many books are Death and the Idea of Mexico (2005), The Return of Comrade Ricardo Flores Magón (2015), and Nuestra América: My Family in the Vertigo of Translation (2021). More recently Lomnitz published Sovereignty and Extortion: A New State Form in Mexico (2024) and Antropología de la zona de silencio (2026). He is a long-standing contributor to the Mexico City press, and recently has published pieces in the New York Review of Books, the Boston Review, and the New York Times.

Photo by Fernando Moreno, 2023