State Violence and Uncommon Death in Contemporary Mexico

Mexico is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse countries that, among other distinctive features, has for thousands of years included a unique worldview regarding death. The fusion of indigenous beliefs and the Catholic creed imposed by the Spaniards who arrived in America in the sixteenth century, led to one of the most important ceremonies in the entire national territory in force to this day. The closing of the life cycle of the dead by their loved ones is a necessary step for the eternal rest of their souls. However, this ancestral practice has been truncated with the thousands of enforced disappearances that are becoming a problem of inconceivable dimensions. If there are no material remains of the deceased, they cannot be dismissed or helped on their journey to another world, leaving the living with the idea that they have not fulfilled their work. This paper discusses the concept of uncommon death in Mexico and its importance in cultural identity and aims to take a different approach to the problem of enforced disappearances. Beyond the political repercussions with the population’s distrust of the state due to lack of justice, here the cultural fracture is analyzed. Culture as a creator of identity, as a generator of inclusion, as a glue and catalyst of diversity is suffering damage with serious repercussions in the deterioration of the social fabric.