The first book to specifically focus on the theoretical foundations of humanitarian forensic science
Anthropology of Violent Death: Theoretical Foundations for Forensic Humanitarian Action consolidates the concepts and theories that are central to securing the posthumous dignity of the deceased, respecting their memories, and addressing the needs of the surviving populations affected. Focusing on the social and cultural significance of the deceased, this much-needed volume develops a theoretical framework that extends the role of humanitarian workers and specifically the actions of forensic scientists beyond an exclusively legal and technical approach.
Anthropology of Violent Death is designed to inspire and alerts the scientific community, authorities, and the justice systems to think and take actions to avoid the moral injury in society and cultures due to grave disrespect against humanity, its memories and reconciliation. Humanitarian forensic science faces the role of mediator between the deceased and those who are still alive to guarantee the respect and dignity of humanity. Contributions from renowned experts address post-mortem dignity, cultural perceptions of violent death and various mortuary sites, the forms and critical effects of the so-called forensic turn and humanitarian action, the treatment of violent death in post-conflict societies, respect for the dead under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Islamic law, the ethical management of the death of migrants, and much more.
In an increasingly violent world, this volume, develops a theoretical component for death management in scenarios where humanitarian action is required Facilities better understanding between the social sciences, the forensic sciences, and justice systems in situations involving violent death Discusses the latest theories from leading scholars and practitioners to enhance the activities of forensic scientists and authorities who have the difficult responsibility of making decisions It provides a better understanding of the humanitarian and cultural dilemmas in the face of violent death episodes, and the unresolved needs of the dignity of the deceased during armed conflicts, disasters, migration crises, including everyday homicides Anthropology of Violent Death: Theoretical Foundations for Forensic Humanitarian Action is an indispensable resource for forensic scientists, humanitarian workers, human rights defenders, and government and non-governmental officials.
Author(s): Roberto C. Parra; Douglas H. Ubelaker
Series: Forensic Science in Focus
Publisher: Wiley-AAFS
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 426
City: Colorado Springs
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
About the editors
List of contributors
Foreword
Notes
Preface
Series Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 The anthropology of violent death and the treatment of the bodies: an introduction
Notes
References
Chapter 2 The posthumous dignity of dead persons
2.1 Introduction: generations and posthumous dignity
2.2 The dead and posthumous dignity
2.3 Evidence for posthumous dignity
2.4 Duties flowing from posthumous dignity
2.5 The nature of posthumous dignity
2.6 Semantic debates about posthumous dignity
2.7 Breaches of posthumous dignity
2.8 Restoration of posthumous dignity
2.9 Conclusion: the impact of posthumous dignity
Notes
References
Chapter 3 Continuing bonds and social memory: absence–presence
3.1 What are continuing bonds and how are they experienced and expressed?
3.2 Continuing bonds and the well-being of mourners
3.3 Implications for professional service providers
References
Chapter 4 The archaeology of disappearance
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Disappearance and power: concealment, dispersal, and virtualization
4.3 Material disappearance, human disappearance
4.4 The disappearance of disappearance
4.5 Concluding Remarks
Note
References
Chapter 5 Bioarchaeology of violent death
5.1 Introduction and background
5.2 Categories of group-level violent death
5.2.1 Bioarchaeology of Massacres
5.3 Case studies illustrating integrative approaches to massacres in the past
5.3.1 Sandby borg Massacre (1500 BCE)
5.3.2 Potocani, Croatia (6200 BCE)
5.3.3 Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)
5.3.4 Kratophanous violence and ritualized death
5.3.5 Kratophanous violence or witch execution
5.4 Differentiating between kratophanous violence and ritualized death
5.4.1 Captives and the enslaved
5.4.2 Group-level conflict: raiding and warfare
5.5 Conclusions
References
Chapter 6 Destruction, mass violence, and human remains: Dealing with dead bodies as a “total social phenomenon”
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Understanding the forms taken by the Forensic Turn, and its effects
6.3 Understanding the genealogy of professional practices of disinterment
6.4 The blind spots of a total social phenomenon of great complexity
6.5 Conclusion
Notes
References
Chapter 7 Kill, kill again and destroy: when death is not enough
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Dehumanizing
7.3 When death is not enough
7.3.1 Violent death in a Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) context
7.3.2 The power of symbols, beliefs, and violent death in Kasai
7.4 Dismembering/mutilating: the perspective from culture
7.4.1 How to understand Kasai’s violent events
7.5 Conclusions
Notes
References
Chapter 8 Mourning violent deaths and disappearances
8.1 Introduction
8.2 The conflictive mourning of the dead and missing after the First World War
8.3 Enduring bonds of the living, the dead, and the disappeared in Argentina
8.4 Oscillatory mourning of the dead and the disappeared by the bereaved
8.5 Conclusion
Notes
References
Chapter 9 Whose humanitarianism, whose forensic anthropology?
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Positionality of the authors
9.3 Reconceptualizing violent deaths
9.4 The dead as articipants4 in forensic anthropology
9.4.1 The case of Acholiland, Uganda: Violent deaths and disturbing pirits
9.4.2 The case of csnam, British Columbia, Canada: Violence against the dead
9.4.3 The case of MetFern Cemetery, Massachusetts, USA: the violence of erasure and the forensics of disability
9.5 What’s missing from human rights
9.6 The continued expansion of forensic anthropology
Notes
References
Chapter 10 Battlefields and killed in action: tombs of the unknown soldier and commemoration
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Tomb of the unknown soldier
10.2.1 We cannot then but ask
10.3 Mutilated victory
10.4 As an Epilogue
Notes
References
Chapter 11 Mass grave protection and missing persons
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Missing persons in mass graves: a worldwide phenomenon
11.3 The legal framework for mass grave protection
11.3.1 Missing persons and international norms
11.3.2 Mass graves and international norms
11.3.2.1 The investigative duty
11.3.2.2 Identification
11.3.2.3 Return of human remains
11.3.2.4 Pursuit of justice
11.3.2.5 Commemoration
11.4 Practicalities of protection
11.5 Protection on a global scale
11.5.1 Mapping as a form of protection?
11.5.2 Understanding the ramifications of existing rights
11.6 Conclusion: the need to do better
Note
References
Chapter 12 Respect for the dead under international law and Islamic law in armed conflicts
12.1 Introduction
12.2 The Legal Framework
12.3 Search for, Collect, and Evacuate the Dead without Adverse Distinction
12.4 Identification and Recording of Information on the Dead
12.5 Respecting the Dead and Dignified Treatment
12.6 Respectful Disposal of the Dead
12.7 Gravesites and Other Locations of Mortal Remains
12.8 Exhumations
12.9 Return of Human Remains and Personal Effects of the Dead
12.10 Conclusion
Notes
References
Chapter 13 Unmaking forgotten mass graves and honorable burials: engaging with the Spanish civil war legacy
13.1 Overture
13.2 On Funerary Militarism
13.3 Franco’s Militarist Imprint Under Siege
13.4 Unmaking the Generalissimo’s Burial
13.5 Military disassemblage
Notes
References
Chapter 14 Dealing with bad death in post-conflict societies: forensic devices, burials of exhumed remains, and mourning processes in Peru
14.1 Models for dealing with death: morphologies of “good death” and “bad death”
14.2 Contexts of mass violence through the lens of bad death
14.3 Transitional justice, the forensic turn, and the “dignified burial”: can we reverse bad death?
14.4 From the necropolitics to the necrogovernamentality of the Peruvian state
14.5 Exhumation of mass graves and the reactivation of bad death in the Andes
14.6 The task of identification or the process of rehumanization of ill-treated bodies
14.7 The uncertain dates and stretched time of bad death
14.8 Body substitutes in the absence of any trace of remains
14.9 Conclusion
Notes
References
Chapter 15 Migrant death and the ethics of visual documentation in forensic anthropology
15.1 Introduction
15.2 Disciplinary ethics and social change: contextualizing forensic anthropology practices
15.3 Methods and scope
15.3.1 Findings
15.3.1.1 Question set 1
15.3.1.2 Question set 2
15.3.1.3 Analysis: question set 3
15.4 Making the case for a more socially aware practice of forensic anthropology
15.5 Closing
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Chapter 16 Bedeviling binaries: an integrated and dialectical approach to forensic anthropology in northern Uganda
16.1 Introduction
16.2 Restless spirits and human remains in Acholiland, Uganda
16.3 The integrated approach
16.4 To excavate or not to excavate?
16.5 Conclusion: from binary to dialectical relationships
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Chapter 17 Guiding principles for the dignified management of the dead in humanitarian emergencies and to prevent them from becoming missing persons
17.1 Why the need for these principles?
17.2 To whom are the guiding principles addressed?
17.3 Setting the scene
17.4 The preamble to the Guiding Principles
17.5 The Guiding Principles
17.6 The process of producing the Guiding Principles
17.7 Conclusions
Notes
References
Chapter 18 Epilog: Anthropology of violent death and forensic humanitarian action
18.1 Humanity and its less violent reactions?
18.2 Anthropology applied to forensic sciences and the notion of anthropology of violent death in the humanitarian context
18.2.1 The theoretical approach of forensic anthropology: beyond the classic empirical vision
18.2.2 Anthropology of violent death and humanitarian action
Note
References
Index
EULA
