Guns, tech and permaviolence in Latin America

SPEAKER: León Castellanos, Asser Institute for International & European Law

DATE: 5 June 2026 TIME: 15:30-17:00​ ACTIVITY: CEDLA LECTURE VENUE:  VOX-POP, Binnengasthuisstraat 9, ground floor. 1012 ZA Amsterdam

​​​This talk introduces “permaviolence” – a concept describing the unprecedented ubiquity of harm in contemporary society mediated by digital technology. Permaviolence operates through dual mechanisms: “onboarding violence,” whereby algorithms and digital media normalise violent content through constant exposure; and “outsourcing violence,” where emerging technologies democratise access to harmful tools. Drawing from recent research on gun control, AI-enabled weapons development, and proliferation of 3D-printed guns, the presentation shows how technological advancement outpaces humanity’s moral capacity to adapt. This analysis extends to Latin America, where U.S.-manufactured firearms fuel regional violence enhanced by digital means, creating grounds for strategic litigation against gun manufacturers and online platforms for transboundary harms. Cases from Mexico and other Latin American countries represent novel approaches to corporate accountability, challenging manufacturers’ liability shields by documenting how negligent distribution practices and willful blindness to trafficking patterns contribute to regional instability. The presentation concludes by advocating for innovative governance frameworks to bridge the gap between our technological capacity for violence and our evolutionary ability to adapt.