The Presence-Absence of Violence in Perpetrator Research
Anthropologists have traditionally concentrated on the victims of war and violence: those exposed to injustice, suffering, and loss—people we can easily sympathize with, and sometimes even seek to advocate for. In this conversation, Heidi Mogstad speaks with Eva van Roekel about her unconventional research on war perpetrators in Argentina—individuals i ndicted for crimes against humanity committed during the so-called “Dirty War” (1974–1983), a period of state terrorism in which military forces and death squads targeted political dissidents, left-wing activists, and socialists. The discussion foregrounds both the significance of engaging with perpetrators and the ethical and methodological dilemmas such work entails. At the same time, it shows how perpetrators’ perspectives may complicate established theories and unsettle our moral and political assumptions.
