The land of open graves

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Watch the recording of the seminar here

Since the mid-1990s’, the U.S. federal government has relied on a
border enforcement strategy known as “Prevention Through Deterrence.”
Using various security infrastructure and techniques of surveillance,
this strategy funnels undocumented migrants towards remote and rugged
terrain such as the Sonoran Desert of Arizona with the hope that
mountains ranges, extreme temperatures, and other “natural” obstacles
will deter people from unauthorized entry. Hundreds of people perish
annually while undertaking this dangerous activity.

Since 2009, Jason de León's Undocumented Migration Project has used a combination of forensic, archaeological, and ethnographic approaches to understand the various
forms of violence that characterize the social process of clandestine migration. In this presentation he focuses on what happens to the bodies of migrants who die in the desert.

Speakers
Professor Jason de León, Department of Anthropology, UCLA
Associate Professor Karen Waltorp, Department of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen
Senior Researcher Ninna Nyberg Sørensen, DIIS
Senior Researcher Hans Lucht, DIIS

Programme
13:00–13:05    Welcome, Hans Lucht
13:05–13:50    Land of Open Graves: Talk by Professor Jason de León
13:50–14:00    Discussant, Ninna Nyberg Sørensen
14:00–14:10    Discussant, Karen Waltorp
14:10–15:00    Open discussion

The seminar was recorded on Tuesday 14 September 2021, 13.00–15.00 at DIIS.