Norms, Social Mechanisms, and Mexico’s General Law on Disappearances

In October 2017, Mexico’s Congress passed the General Law on Disappearances, the first federal-legal measure of its kind. After eleven years of extreme violence that coincide with the War on Drugs, more than 37,000 (RNPED, 2018) persons are officially disappeared, though it is widely suspected the figure is now in excess of 40,000. This research project examines the social mechanisms that influenced the creation of the General Law after more than a decade of insecurity. Through quantitative analyses in the timeline of the disappearances epidemic, combined with interviews of policymakers, activists, and academics, the project focuses on the role norms and values play in the advancement of policy. Thus, the expected outcome of this research is a deepened socio-political understanding about the Law’s advent and the circumstances that explain its timing.

Faculty Supervisor:

Pablo Policzer

Student:

Partner:

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Calgary

Program: