About

Pablo A. Piccato is a professor in the Department of History at Columbia University, specializing in Mexican history. His research focuses on the political and cultural history of Mexico, with particular attention to the history of crime. He has worked extensively on topics related to crime, truth, justice, and the public sphere in Mexico, especially during the twentieth century. Piccato has authored several books, including 'A History of Infamy: Crime, Truth, and Justice in Mexico' and 'City of Suspects: Crime in Mexico City, 1900-1931,' which explore the social and political dimensions of crime and public perception in Mexican history. His scholarly contributions also include numerous articles examining the intersections of violence, journalism, and political culture in Mexico. Piccato has held notable positions such as the Alliance Visiting Professor at the Universite Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne and has received awards including the Lenfest/Columbia Distinguished Faculty Award. His work is recognized for its in-depth analysis of Mexico's social history, particularly in relation to crime and the development of the public sphere.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Art
• Humanities
• Sociology
• Computer Science
• Literature
• Law
• Programming language
• Internet privacy
• Law and economics

Selected publications

• Lawrence, Mark (2020) Insurgency, <scp>Counter‐Insurgency</scp> and Policing in <scp>Centre‐West</scp> Mexico, 1926–1929: Fighting Cristeros, Bloomsbury Academic (London, UK), vii + 208 pp. £85.00 hbk.

  Bulletin of Latin American Research · 2022-09-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Detective Fiction

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2022

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Art
  • Literature

  Focusing on two central novels by Roberto Bolaño, Los detectives salvajes and 2666, as works of crime fiction, this chapter considers them from the point of view of the rules of the detective and murder genre. The role of the detective and the construction of the puzzle emerge in each of the two novels as both a crime and a literary question. Situating the novels in the context of the impunity and violence that defined the experience of Mexico in the last three decades, the chapter proposes an alternative way to appreciate Bolaño’s depiction of violence, less as a philosophical statement about modernity and more as an ironic vision of literature and contemporary ideologies.

  PublisherDOI

• Review of Latin Noir

  European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies | Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe · 2021-09-21

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Latin Noir, directed by Andreas Apostolidis, Greece, France and Mexico, 2020

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Sobre Elisa Speckman Guerra, “El derecho a vivir como una mujer amante y amada”. Nydia Camargo, su crimen y su juicio (México, década de 1920)

  Historia Mexicana · 2020-09-07

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  -

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• 5. Honor and the State: Reputation as a Juridical Good

  Duke University Press eBooks · 2020

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Sociology
  • Law and economics
  PublisherDOI

• Poesía y política en el México republicano: una lectura de Ignacio Ramírez en Don Simplicio, 1845-1847

  Estudios de Historia Moderna y Contemporánea de México · 2020 · 3 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Humanities
  • Political Science
  • Humanities

  &lt;p&gt;Este artículo examina las ideas de Ignacio Ramírez y sus contemporáneos sobre los usos políticos de la poesía. Se concentra en el periodo en el que Ignacio Ramírez y Guillermo Prieto escribieron el periódico satírico Don Simplicio, opositor al gobierno de Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga y al proyecto monarquista. A pesar de la inminencia de la guerra contra los Estados Unidos, Ramírez hizo una crítica del nacionalismo y de la poesía existente. Su objetivo era sentar las bases para un lenguaje público renovado y democrático en el cual la poesía desempeñaría un lugar importante.&lt;/p&gt;

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• CHAPTER 14. PISTOLEROS, LEY FUGA, AND UNCERTAINTY IN PUBLIC DEBATES ABOUT MURDER IN TWENTIETH- CENTURY MEXICO

  2020-09-30

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• 2. Representing Public Opinion: Combat Journalists and the Business of Honor

  2020-10-09

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• 6. ‘‘A Horrible Web of Insults’’: The Everyday Defense of Honor

  2020-10-09

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• 1. Setting the Rules of Freedom: The Trajectory of the Press Jury

  2020-10-09

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Carolyn Strange

  Australian National University

  6 shared

• Laura Engelstein

  6 shared

• Christopher Tomlins

  6 shared

• Robert J. Steinfeld

  University at Buffalo, State University of New York

  5 shared

• Emily Tabuteau

  5 shared

• Daniel R. Ernst

  5 shared

• William E. Forbath

  4 shared

• Mindie Lazarus‐Black

  4 shared

Education

• Ph.D.

  University of Texas at Austin

  1997

• M.A.

  University of Texas at Austin

• B.A., Me

  Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Awards & honors

• Alliance Visiting Professor at the Universite Paris I Panthe…
• Lenfest/Columbia Distinguished Faculty Award (2008)
• Researcher in Residence, Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, Un…
• Grant from the Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, M…
• Seed Grant, Institute for Social and Economic Research and P…