Year of Graduation
2023
Level of Access
Restricted Access Thesis
Embargo Period
5-18-2023
Department or Program
Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies
First Advisor
Germán Cárdenas-Alaminos
Second Advisor
Nadía Celis
Abstract
Titled "Regresando a casa" or "Coming Home", my honors thesis sheds light on an ongoing war against drug trafficking in Mexico, with a particular focus on the unique context of Zacatecas. Centered on returns to my hometown, I discuss the unsettling truth of normalized drug-trafficking violence and its deafening silence; a reality that took me ten years to uncover.
Constructed from memory and grounded in local journalism and oral testimonies, my honors project tells my story of growing up in a small town in Zacatecas, and the aftermath of cartels drowning our town in violence with kidnappings and extortions in April of 2008. Through evocative imagery and storytelling, my project traces the struggles, and the beauty, of uncovering the past, reconstructing the once-idealized image I had of my hometown, finding acceptance and a sense of belonging, and reconciling with a state whose negligence has allowed organized crime to seize economic, political, and cultural power.
Restricted
Available only to users on the Bowdoin campus.