Rereading Cain and Abel: New Approaches to Enforced Disappearances

Abstract

The story of Cain and Abel, connected to enforced disappearances and the dictatorship has been used in Argentina by different stakeholders, many times for opposite purposes and with completely antithetical meanings. The Cain and Abel story is as complex as the story of enforced disappearances. Unpacking enforced disappearances while considering the biblical story allows for fresh readings of the binary approach to victims and perpetrators, challenges the conception of bystanders, and questions the traditional understanding of accountability limited to criminal responses. It also allows for thinking critically about memory, the effectiveness of the international response to enforced disappearances, and the inter-generational effect of disappearances.