Forensic Citizens: The Politics of Searching for Disappeared Persons
Lead Research Organisation:
Durham University
Department Name: Geography
Abstract
The aim of the fellowship is to build upon my track record of publications and further consolidate my contributions
to academic and stakeholder understandings of the citizen-led practice of forensics amidst atrocities. I will build a
research agenda that revalues the actions of non-state agencies, communities, and families in creating new search
technologies. After a very productive doctoral fieldwork, this fellowship will give me the necessary time to analyse
data that was collected during my ethnographic work in Mexico, Colombia and Bosnia. Due to the time and format
constraints of a PhD thesis there is data which couldn't be included in the final document. The fellowship will give
me the time I need to analyse, write and further develop my contribution to human geography, science and
technology studies and cognate disciplines.
During the Fellowship I will participate in career development activities: organise an international knowledge exchange
workshop at Durham University to collaboratively write a 'Guiding Principles' document on citizen-led
practice of forensics. The workshop participants will be families of missing persons and forensic practitioners
coming from Mexico, Ireland and the UK. I will write three journal articles to be published in top tier journals(Social
Studies of Science, Political Geography and Society and Space); and consolidate and expand my research networks
in the UK.
The world-leading research carried out at the Durham Geography makes it the ideal host department to make
these interdisciplinary conversations happen. This project will benefit from Louise Amoore's research on Data,
Security and Ethics of new technologies; Gordon McLeod's work on Grenfell Tower; Lauren Martin's work
on Border and Migration Policy; Jonathan Darling's research on the politics and ethics of forced migration, as well
as Cheryl McEwan's research on Postcolonial Studies and Development
to academic and stakeholder understandings of the citizen-led practice of forensics amidst atrocities. I will build a
research agenda that revalues the actions of non-state agencies, communities, and families in creating new search
technologies. After a very productive doctoral fieldwork, this fellowship will give me the necessary time to analyse
data that was collected during my ethnographic work in Mexico, Colombia and Bosnia. Due to the time and format
constraints of a PhD thesis there is data which couldn't be included in the final document. The fellowship will give
me the time I need to analyse, write and further develop my contribution to human geography, science and
technology studies and cognate disciplines.
During the Fellowship I will participate in career development activities: organise an international knowledge exchange
workshop at Durham University to collaboratively write a 'Guiding Principles' document on citizen-led
practice of forensics. The workshop participants will be families of missing persons and forensic practitioners
coming from Mexico, Ireland and the UK. I will write three journal articles to be published in top tier journals(Social
Studies of Science, Political Geography and Society and Space); and consolidate and expand my research networks
in the UK.
The world-leading research carried out at the Durham Geography makes it the ideal host department to make
these interdisciplinary conversations happen. This project will benefit from Louise Amoore's research on Data,
Security and Ethics of new technologies; Gordon McLeod's work on Grenfell Tower; Lauren Martin's work
on Border and Migration Policy; Jonathan Darling's research on the politics and ethics of forced migration, as well
as Cheryl McEwan's research on Postcolonial Studies and Development
Publications
Schwartz Marin E
(2018)
Antigone's forensic DNA database: Forensic technologies and the search for the disappeared in Mexico
in Athenea Digital. Revista de pensamiento e investigación social
Cruz-Santiago A
(2020)
Lists, Maps, and Bones: The Untold Journeys of Citizen-led Forensics in Mexico
in Victims & Offenders
| Title | Comic Strip: Forensic Citizens (Ciudadanos Forenses) |
| Description | This creative product is a comic strip detailing grassroots practices of forensics (i.e. the different practices that families of disappeared persons carry out in order to locate their loved ones). The information written at the back of the comic strip was collected through participatory engagement with families in 2014-2015, and finalised in the workshop organised in August 2019. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | TBD |
| Title | Sheriff |
| Description | Sheriff is a multi-disciplinary piece, combining text, music, dance and physical performance. The piece touches upon themes such as: violence, loss, love and identity. The first workshop of Sheriff was held at Shoreditch Town Hall, London in 2019. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | TBD |
| URL | https://www.theatreo.co.uk/current-projects/sheriff |
| Description | During the fellowship, I built upon my track record of both, my academic publications and those directed to the general public. I published the paper: Lists, Maps, and Bones: The Untold Journeys of Citizen-led Forensics in Mexico, Victims & Offenders, 15:3, 350-369, DOI: 10.1080/15564886.2020.1718046. This paper is the outcome of the invitation received by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC and the Migration Policy Centre, to participate in the International Conference on Organized Crime and Gender. The research I presented informed the creation of teaching modules for the UN funded project Education for Justice (E4J). E4J has been developed to create and disseminate education materials in UNODC mandated areas of crime prevention and criminal justice across the primary, secondary and tertiary education levels. I also published guest articles for the Sustainable Development Goals Knowledge Hub, The Conversation and Animal Politico (in Spanish). I held a series of workshops with families of disappeared persons in Mexico in order to co-design a "Monografía". This is a learning tool (similar to a comic strip) used across primary and secondary schools in Mexico. During the workshops we develop a comic strip on 'Forensic Citizens' to create a greater understanding of the different forensic practices that families have established in order to locate their disappeared loved ones. I am in contact with the Ministry of Higher Education in Mexico in order to use this tool in classrooms. I enhanced and cultivated new academic and practitioner networks to develop impact opportunities. I held meetings with the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), I was invited to the horizon-scanning workshop on The future of science in crime and security at the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. I was selected as a consultant on participatory methodologies and ethnography in difficult scenarios to the IOM's Missing Migrants Project. I was invited to be part of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Missing Persons Global Community of Practice. In July 2019, I visited the ICRC's archives in Geneva and held meeting with the Head of the Forensic Team. I've been invited as a speaker in the Keynote Panel on 'Transformative Digital Practices' at the American Association of Geographers meeting in Denver in April 2020. I was interviewed by CNN en Español to give an expert opinion in relation to the Mexico City's plan to create a Forensic DNA Database to combat rape and violence against women. 25th September, Available at: https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/video/ley-banco-adn-forense-sheinbaum-violencia-pkg-rey-rodriguez-perspectivas-mexico/ As an output of the workshops held with families of disappeared persons; musicians and bioinformaticians, we are developing a new research project around: data science, embodiment, and music. New research partnerships: In collaboration with colleagues from Durham Law School we successfully applied for GCRF funds to create a Network on Labour/Data Justice in the Global South. I am particularly looking at Data Justice and Domestic workers in Mexico. Conferences: I presented my work at the American Association of Geographers' meeting in Washington; and was an invited speaker at the workshop on Global Perspectives on Kidnapping and Crimes of im(mobility) at El Paso, Texas. |
| Exploitation Route | The learning tool we developed can be used by the Ministry of Education in Mexico to provide a wider understanding of the activities that families of disappeared persons are conducting in order to locate their loved ones. I am also, socialising this learning tool in other international forums such as in the the ICRC's Missing Persons project in which I am member of the global community of practice. In the academic context, the concepts of 'forensic citizenship' 'citizen forensics' and 'forensic citizens' have been taken up by other academics to discuss its outcomes and implications. See for instance: http://www.isrf.org/about/fellows-and-projects/res3-1/ |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Description | My postdoctoral research has opened up a new agenda on citizen forensics (2016, 2017, 2020) that analyses emerging forms of citizenship built around the missing and disappeared persons in the Global South. It has created impact-led theoretical avenues in human geography and the sociology of forensic science that moves beyond the expertise confined to laboratories and courtrooms into participatory research that challenges existing humanitarian forensic investigation models. During my ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship, I built upon my track record of publications (peer-reviewed and public engagement) and extended my policy networks. To date, this has taken the form of a collaboration with the UNODC's Education for Justice Initiative (2018), a consultancy on participatory research methodologies for the Missing Migrants Project at the International Organization for Migration (2019-2020) and bespoke training on the governance of grassroots DNA Databases for the German Ministry of International Cooperation and Development (2021). Since 2019 I have been a member of the Global Community of Practice for the Missing Persons Project at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). I am a member of the Panel of Experts at the International Commission of Missing Persons (ICMP) with thematic expertise on the 'Americas' and one of the authors of ICMP's first Global Report on Missing Persons, published in 2021. My research has contributed to policy debates. In the process, I have been able to critically engage with the politics of humanitarian work, the challenges of implementing technologies across cultural contexts, and the opportunities that citizen-led interventions encounter in the (inter)national arena. THEATRE A London-based playwriter wrote a play based on parts of my research (https://www.theatreo.co.uk/). I had several meetings with them, and in April 2019, a preliminary performance was presented at Shoreditch Town Hall in London. We are still in touch to continue our collaboration. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | 'Americas' in Global Report on Missing Persons 2021, International Commission on Missing Persons ICMP, Brooks Newmark, United Kingdom. |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://www.icmp.int/?resources=global-report-on-missing-persons-2021 |
| Description | Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship |
| Amount | £165,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ECF-2021-220 |
| Organisation | The Leverhulme Trust |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2021 |
| End | 09/2024 |
| Description | Designation to the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) Panel of Experts |
| Organisation | International Commission on Missing Persons |
| Country | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | More than ten years of experience on the issue of missing persons in the region (The Americas). Public engagement strategies and citizen-led approaches to the search for disappeared persons. |
| Collaborator Contribution | TBD |
| Impact | ICMP Global Report. I wrote a chapter addressing the issue of persons going missing or disappearing in the global region of the Americas. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting - Washington DC |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at the panel on 'Feminist Digital Geographies' organised by Agnieszka Leszczynski & Gillian Rose. After my participation on this panel I was invited to the next years' AAG as a Keynote panel member on 'Transformative Digital Practices' |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Forensic Citizens: Searching for Disappeared Persons in Mexico |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I held a series of workshops with families of disappeared persons in Mexico in order to co-design a Monografía. A learning tool (similar to a comic strip) used across primary and secondary schools in Mexico. During the workshops we develop a comic strip on 'Forensic Citizens' to create a greater understanding of the different forensic practices that families have established in order to locate their disappeared loved ones. I am in contact with the Ministry of Higher Education in Mexico in order to use this tool in classrooms. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Invitation to speak at the International Committee of the Red Cross - Missing persons Global Community |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | "Our Hour" is a one -hour webinar series hosted each month by ICRC's Missing Persons Global Community. I was invited to an expert panel to talk about how families of the missing take the search for their loved ones into their own hands: they collect and analyse victims' records and DNA data, keep detailed records of the disappearance, analyse phone records, and interview local communities, among other activities. My talk highlighted how these citizen-led forensic practices are the bedrock from which forensic humanitarianism has emerged. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://communities.ext.icrc.org/login.jspa?referer=%252Fthread%252F12265 |
| Description | Ley Banco de ADN forense en la Ciudad de Mexico |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | I was interviewed by CNN en Español to provide an expert opinion in relation to the Mexico City's plan to create a Forensic DNA Database to combat rape and violence against women. 25th September 2019 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/video/ley-banco-adn-forense-sheinbaum-violencia-pkg-rey-rodriguez-perspec... |