Abstract
In the 1970s, Latin America became a global laboratory for military interventions, the cultivation of terror, and ideological and economic transformation. In response, family groups and young scientists forged a new activist forensics focused on human rights, victim-centered justice, and state accountability, inaugurating new forms of forensic practice. We examine how this new form of forensic practice centered in forensic genetics has led to a critical engagement with Indigeneity both within and outside the lab. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with human rights activists and forensic scientists in Argentina, Guatemala and Mexico, this paper examines the relationship between forensic genetics, Indigenous organizing, and human rights practice. We offer the concept of ‘genetic syncretism’ to attend to spaces where multiple and competing beliefs about genetics, justice, and Indigenous identity are worked out through (1) coming together in care, (2) incorporation, and (3) ritual. Helping to unpack the uneasy and incomplete alliance of Indigenous interests and forensic genetic practice in Latin American, genetic syncretism offers a theoretical lens that is attentive to how differentials of power embedded in colonial logics and scientific practice are brokered through the coming together of seemingly incompatible beliefs and practices.
Highlights
In the last half of the twentieth century in Latin America, dictatorial leaders and military juntas waged brutal transnational counter-insurgency campaigns to eradicate the perceived threat of communism on the continent
Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with human rights activists and forensic scientists in three Latin American contexts, this paper examines the relationship between forensic genetics, Indigenous organizing, and human rights practice in Latin America
We have offered cases where genetic syncretism, with its focus on care, incorporation and ritual, allows for a methodological move beyond the lab, and beyond single narratives about the relationship between Indigenous groups and forensic genetics
Summary
The Mexicans came from the Indians, the Brazilians came from the jungle, but we Argentines came from boats, and they were boats that came from Europe. In contrast to how talk of race or population in forensic genetics has been shut down in the criminal context through the standard use of over 20 STR markers for high statistical confidence (Oldt and Kanthaswamy 2020), in forensic contexts where bodies have been buried for extended time periods in acidic soil, DNA was often degraded and only extracted in small quantities This often meant working with an incomplete profile, elevating the importance of statistical inference in identifications. The results of the first genetic map of Argentina, which were widely publicized in print and radio news, declared that genetics had “unearthed” a buried diversity (Heguy 2005) and that 56% of Argentines had Indigenous people in their lineages Since these early studies on genetic diversity, forensic anthropology has become less prominent in this work, with important research programs emerging from biological anthropology using AIMS and SNPs to characterize the genetic diversity of the Argentinian population (Catelli et al 2011; Muzzio et al 2018). The syncretism is revealed and put to work years later in the reimagining of Argentina as a multi-ethnic nation, challenging the myth of whiteness and the erasure of Indigenous peoples
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
