The global architecture of disappearances: Unifying a fragmented field

Abstract

Abstract Disappearances are used by states, insurgents, militias, criminal groups, and transnational security services, yet international studies lack a shared framework for systematically comparing them across contexts. Despite their relevance to repression, civil conflict, criminal governance, and migration, they remain theoretically fragmented and empirically under-measured, examined across partially overlapping literatures employing distinct definitions and case-bound approaches. This article introduces the first global, systematically coded database of disappearances (1999–2023) and a purpose-based typology identifying nine strategic logics underpinning the practice, ranging from state repression and counterinsurgency to criminal extraction, trafficking, and identity-based targeting. The typology reveals shared rationales across political and criminal domains, while the dataset traces how disappearance practices diffuse, evolve, and adapt over time. By reconceptualizing disappearances as an adaptive form of coercion operating under conditions of heightened external scrutiny, the article contributes to international studies debates on repression, sovereignty, and the governance of violence.