Structures of Fear is both an academic and artistic endeavor: a weaving together of disciplines, conversations, and emotions into the tangled threads of structural violence that persist in our societies, spaces, and even the textiles we use every day.
By tracing the intertwined histories of cotton production, colonial power, and patriarchal governance—especially in Mexico—this work exposes the connections between colonial economies, patriarchal systems, and corrupted legal structures that normalize and perpetuate violence. Cotton, a material historically tied to racialized labor and the oppression of women, becomes both symbol and evidence: a fabric that archives stories where fear takes root, and where violence and resilience are interwoven.
Through three chapters, the research explores how patriarchal and colonial systems—spectral infrastructures that still shape what is deemed morally and legally acceptable—continue to allow gender-based violence and femicide to remain widespread and, all too often, unpunished. By situating local realities within global systems, the thesis contextualizes forms of violence that may seem distant to some but are deeply enmeshed in our shared social fabric.
Editorial design: Geo design department 2023-2025