Trauma and human rights violations in Latin America

TELLO, MARIANA

Sarajevo

Conferencia; Memory, justice and reconciliation?! International Dialogue; 2015

Agencia de Cooperación Alemana, Center of Non Violent Action (Belgrado), Archivo de los movimientos civiles (Alemania) y Federal Fundation for the Research of the Communist Dictatorship (Alemania)

The presentation poses three questions. First, I discuss the adequacy of some concepts as trauma to think about the suffering and damage caused by mass crimes. I mean: how do we understand the notions of transgenerational,of transmission, and trauma at large? Can we apply this concept to all thelevels of understanding of suffering? Second, it brings this discussion to another level, putting in context the meaning of these terms and asking precisely which is the role of (political, social, cultural and historical) contexts in producing or reproducing trauma? Finally, a question about the strategies to deal with suffering: are they individual or social? What is the role of the social context in providing tools for sense meaking after a traumatic situation?