Documenting El Salvador’s civil war and migration crisis

Meet photographer and author Robert Nickelsberg speaking on the role of photojournalism in documenting armed conflict and on the legacies of U.S. foreign policy in Central America

Register here: https://www.diis.dk/en/node/27289/

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In the early 1980s, the Cold War reached Central America. Following the overthrow of Nicaragua’s Somoza government by the left-wing Sandinista rebels in 1979, the United States sought to prop up El Salvador’s right- wing military government as a backstop against home-grown insurgents and rising Soviet and Cuban influence. America’s foreign policy and interference helped fuel El Salvador’s lethal 13-year civil war from 1979-1992. The new book Legacy of Lies. El Salvador 1981-1984 by the American photographer Robert Nickelsberg contains previously unpublished black-and-white images. The photos are supplemented by essays by renowned journalists. The book illustrates the war and the inevitable flight by Salvadoran citizens to the U.S. in the wake of the conflict.
In this talk, Nickelsberg presents his new book and the social and political environment in El Salvador when he produced the images on behalf of Time magazine. He will also discuss the impact of U.S. foreign policies during this period and trace its continuous effects today.
After the talk, Nickelsberg will be in conversation with Finn Stepputat about the context of the photos, the role of photojournalism during armed conflict and the continous impacts of U.S. foreign policy on violence and migration in the region.

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SPEAKERS
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Robert Nickelsberg worked as a Time magazine contract photographer for nearly thirty years, specialising in political and cultural change in developing countries. Nickelsberg began his work in El Salvador and Central America from 1981-1984. He is also the author of Afghanistan – A Distant War, and Afghanistan’s Heritage: Restoring Spirit and Stone, done in conjunction with the U.S. Department of State, published in English, Dari and Pashtu. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Finn Stepputat is emeritus researcher at DIIS. Since the 1980s, he has worked and published on armed conflict, forced migration, post-conflict interventions, state-building, violence and the ‘politics of dead bodies’ mainly in Guatemala but also in Peru, Afghanistan and Somali East Africa.

Marie Kolling is senior researcher at DIIS with a regional focus on Latin America and long-term fieldwork in Brazil. Her research includes the endurance of violence in Brazil’s metropolitan cities and the effects of Women, Peace and Security policies.

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PROGRAMME
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15.00-15.10 Introduction, Marie Kolling
15.10-15.40 Legacy of Lies. Documenting El Salvador’s civil war, Robert Nickelsberg
15.40-16.10 Remembering the civil war and migration crisis past and present, Robert Nickelsberg and Finn Stepputat
16.10-16.30 Q&A
16.30-17.00 Coffee and book sale

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PRACTICAL INFORMATION
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The seminar will be held in English. Participation is free of charge but registration is required via our registration form. Register here: https://www.diis.dk/en/node/27289/
Livestreaming via the event page on diis.dk does not require registration. The livestreaming will appear with a link on the page just before the seminar starts. You will be able to watch the seminar recording afterwards as well.