ABSTRACT
Disappearance, or the involuntary abduction of individuals, continues to be practiced in many parts of the world. In political contexts, where torture and disappearances are carried out by state actors, there appears to be a widespread denial and suppression of suffering. Losing a loved one to disappearance is experienced by many as “going crazy.” The mourner-survivors run the risk of serious mental, bodily and social breakdown, leaving them feeling isolated, abandoned and unrelatable. It is argued that the mourner-survivors’ claims on the body of the disappeared relate both to the political aims of justice and truth, as well as a confrontation with a loss that is foreclosed within the self as well as in the political sphere. It is a matter of urgency to understand the dynamics between survivors of the disappeared, the inter-generational trauma and the role of listening and bearing witness. To do this is to imagine the possibility of recognition and inclusion into humanity so that one becomes relatable as a subject in mourning.