Susana Sosenski, Robachicos: Historia del secuestro infantil en México (1900–1960) (Mexico City: Grano de Sal/UNAM, 2021), pp. 277, 330 pesos, pb.

Abstract

sary. Furthermore, they argue that such change can come only from a concerted effort involving the grassroots and working across party lines. In other words, following the authors’ argument, an inquiry of this nature uncovers precisely the state’s contradictions as it exists at present and, therefore, the limitations of its decision-making structures. Finally, future studies could analyse the historical genealogies of all the tensions that are at stake here. Illegitimate police violence, collusion, corruption and impunity at different levels are not entirely new phenomena in Argentina. As the lingering effects of the country’s dictatorial past, they are inextricably linked to the training of the Argentine police and military during the Cold War effected as part of anti-Communist campaigns (for example, through Operation Condor); to a long-ingrained understanding of low-income neighbourhoods as territories of exception when it comes to law enforcement; and to the state terrorism perpetrated by the last dictatorship. Overall, by looking at collusion from the vantage point of fine-grained material, The Ambivalent State offers an impressive contribution to understanding the ambiguous illicit practices of the state in marginalised urban space in the eyes of its most vulnerable actors in Argentina.