When violence becomes eventful: The case of the Villas de Salvárcar Massacre

Abstract

In this article I explore the relevance of approaching violent events which occur in a context of widespread violence to understand the complexity and uniqueness of these phenomena. The case which I analyze, the Villas de Salvárcar Massacre, took place in Ciudad Juárez, México in the first period of the so-called war on drugs in the country. Specifically, I explore the ground from which this event emerges as well as the opportunities that it triggered. On this basis, I analyze the ways in which violent events, from their novelty and uniqueness, connect with other occurrences that happened in the ground while becoming something different. This process allows to understand time and temporality in a unique way instead of assuming the linear process of past-present future.