Paper short abstract:

I reflect on how a violent event can be, on the one hand, the ratification and deepening of more invisible and prolonged violence, and on the other, how anthropology, and specifically ethnography, can be used to study in depth the articulation of this violence and its continuity.

Paper long abstract:

I met Estela, a 28-year-old woman from the municipality of La Pintana, during a two-year ethnography (2019-2020) on parenthood and childcare. During this time, I got to know her desires, her struggle to make ends meet, the support she received from her feminised network of caregivers, and her relationship with a state whose presence is weak and discontinuous, and which is often represented by professionals who suspect her parenthood. It was in this context that an unexpected but catastrophic event occurred: a stray bullet killed her 6-month-old son. After this event, her relationship with the state changed and she quickly went from being an invisible subject to a priority in institutional networks and the media. From the analysis of Estela's case, in this paper I reflect on how a violent event can be, on the one hand, the ratification and deepening of more invisible and prolonged violence, and on the other, how anthropology, and specifically ethnography, can be used to study in depth the articulation of this violence and its continuity.