Killing as Performance. Violence and the Shaping of Community
by Verónica Zebadúa Yáñez


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In this essay, I argue that political communities are constituted and acted out by and through performative practices that delineate the contours of community, and partake in a constant shaping and re-shaping of its own borders. I claim that by analyzing the case of the femicide in Ciudad Juárez, México, from a standpoint informed by both political philosophy and performance theory, we can become aware of a very particular way of shaping community and granting identity. The events of Ciudad Juárez represent the enactment of a sort of performativity of the political community that is usually hidden, erased from public view. Through Judith Butler’s theory of performativity and of violence and mourning, and Giorgio Agamben work on sovereignty and bare life, I aim to unravel the political meaning of these killings and to offer a new perspective on the case.