Absentees: On Variously Missing Persons

Heller-Roazen tackles the complex and often mysterious nature of what it means to be a non-person in society. Through three subsections called “Vanishings,” “Lessenings,” and “Survival,” Heller-Roazen takes a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach to understanding the implications of those in our society who, for reasons of physical disappearance, disenfranchisement, or death, are denied complete personhood. The book challenges traditional definitions of a “nonperson” to invoke deeper questions about how a somebody becomes a nobody.