Subjectivity of the Living Dead: The Phenomenon of Disappearances in Mexico and the Fentanyl Crisis in the U.S.; Subjetividad del muerto viviente: El fenómeno de desaparición de personas en México y la crisis de fentanilo en los Estados Unidos y la gubern

Abstract

This paper explores the use of the subjectivity of the living dead by linking it to two critical phenomena: the disappearance of individuals in Mexico and the public health crisis in the United States caused by fentanyl overdoses. First, it presents an analysis of the prohibitionist drug regime and the processes of subjectivation it generates, framed within a post-structuralist perspective. Then, it offers a brief overview of the use of the concept of the zombie in social sciences, leading to the construction of the subjectivity of the living dead. This concept is assigned specific characteristics within the context of violence in Mexico and its relation to enforced disappearances, as well as to the crisis stemming from the use of illegal synthetic opioids in the United States.