Discursos disciplinares y construcción de saberes científicos en torno de la apropiación/restitución de niños en Argentina. Un abordaje de Identidad, despojo y restitución de Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo

Abstract

In 1989, the Association of Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo (Asociación de Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo) published Identidad, despojo y restitución (IDR) [Identity, Dispossession and Restitution], co-authored by Matilde Herrera and Ernesto Tenembaum. We find that in contrast to previous publications, the main aim of this book is not to persuade readers that the civic-military dictatorship (1976-1983) in Argentina perpetrated a systematic plan for child abduction, an issue which is taken as a given or even as a consensus, but rather, within a context of taking child appropriation cases to court, to argue and demonstrate that restitution does not mean re-victimization of the children but rather their liberation. Thus, with the aim of constructing and providing proof supporting this assumption, the organization calls upon various specialists in law, pediatrics, psychoanalysis and genetics, who are quoted directly throughout the text. This paper analyzes three discursive scenarios, within the framework of IDR, disclosing the operation of the areas and the interdisciplinary work teams as well as the ‘methodology’ for restituting children implemented by the Association, at the same developing scientific knowledge that provides a rationale supporting the demand for the restitution of grandchildren.