Aristides Obando Cabezas

Professor at the Facultad de Derecho, Ciencias Políticas y Sociales (School of Law, Political and Social Sciences) of the Universidad del Cauca (Colombia

Arístides Obando Cabezas is one of the most outstanding legal and philosophical thinkers in Latin America today. A native of Tumaco, Colombia, he is a paradigmatic example of intellectual commitment and social transformation from within the human sciences. His career is singular not only for its depth, but also for one exceptional fact: he has earned three doctorates, which places him among the most highly qualified academic voices on the continent. Dr. Obando Cabezas holds a Doctorate in Contemporary Philosophy and a Doctorate in Law, and more recently received the degree of Doctor in Law and Globalization from the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos (Mexico), with research titled “Derecho y Globalización: la ciudadanía como un mínimo universal” (Law and Globalization: citizenship as a universal minimum), in which he proposes a reconceptualization of citizenship in the light of human rights in the context of present-day globalization. He is a full professor and researcher at the Universidad del Cauca, attached to the Department of Public Law, and he has also taught at other prestigious Colombian universities such as the Universidad del Valle, the Universidad Icesi and the Universidad Libre de Cali. He also directs the Grupo de Investigación en Ética, Filosofía Política y Jurídica (Research Group on Ethics, Political and Legal Philosophy), from which he has developed proposals of great influence on Ibero-American legal thought. He currently serves as president of the Asociación Iberoamericana de Filosofía Práctica (Ibero-American Association of Practical Philosophy), and has been appointed Special Rapporteur on matters concerning people of African descent by the NGO Digital Law, within the framework of the Comité Euroamericano de Derecho Digital (Euro-American Digital Law Committee). His academic output includes some twenty books on subjects such as citizenship, justice, legal pluralism, hermeneutics, philosophy of law and the pedagogy of everyday life. Many of his works are already essential references in contemporary debates on social justice and diversity in Ibero-America. Arístides Obando Cabezas represents not only academic excellence, but also an ethical and critical way of thinking about law, anchored in the social, cultural and political realities of Latin America.