Claudio Lomnitz

Claudio Lomnitz is the Campbell Family Professor of Anthropology and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at Columbia University. He is also the Director of Columbia's Social Studies of Disappearance Lab, housed within the Anthropology Department. His academic career spans several decades with significant contributions to the study of Latin American, particularly Mexican, history, politics, and culture.

His educational background includes:

• PhD in Anthropology from Stanford University (1987)
• MA in Anthropology from Stanford University (1979)
• Licenciado from Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City (1978)

Lomnitz's research explores diverse yet interconnected themes including Art, Objects, and Public Makings; Gender, Sexuality, Genealogy, and Ancestrality; Institutions, Law, and Governmentality; Text, Translation, Writing, and Aesthetics; Theater, Ritual, and Performance; Value, Commodities, Gift & Debt; War, Nationalism, Displacement, Trauma; and Empires, States, and Sovereignties. His work consistently focuses on the historical and contemporary dynamics of Mexican society, with particular attention to how cultural practices shape political formations and vice versa.

Over the past decade, Lomnitz's publications have increasingly focused on the relationship between state sovereignty and organized crime in Mexico, examining how criminal organizations develop their own political theologies and moral frameworks. His recent trilogy explores the 'torn social fabric' of contemporary Mexico, analyzing how violence, disappearance, and alternative forms of sovereignty reshape Mexican society. He has developed the concept of 'negative sovereignty'—sovereignty that arises through armed force rather than democratic processes—which has become influential in understanding the contemporary Mexican state.

Lomnitz has received notable recognition for his work:

• Mexico's National Drama Award (2010) for his play 'El verdadero Bulnes'

Beyond his academic work, Lomnitz is actively engaged in public intellectual life, regularly contributing to the Mexico City press. He has also collaborated with his brother Alberto Lomnitz on theatrical productions, including 'La Gran Familia,' a musical co-produced by Mexico's National Theater Company and UNAM in 2018. His Social Studies of Disappearance Lab at Columbia represents a significant institutional commitment to understanding the complex phenomena of violence and disappearance in contemporary Mexico, bringing together students and scholars to analyze these critical issues through an anthropological lens.

Through his interdisciplinary approach that bridges anthropology, history, and cultural studies, Lomnitz has established himself as a leading scholar of Mexican society whose work increasingly addresses urgent contemporary issues of state formation, violence, and sovereignty in the 21st century.