Santiago Castro-Gómez
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Santiago Castro-Gómez (born 1958, Bogotá, Colombia) is a Colombian philosopher, a professor at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and the former director of the Pensar Institute in Bogotá.


Career and Work

Castro-Gómez began studying philosophy at Santo Tomás University in Bogotá, Colombia with members of the "Bogotá Group." He received his M.A. in
Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
at the
University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...
and his Ph.D at the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main in Germany. In addition to his academic positions in Colombia, he has served as visiting professor at
Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...
, Pittsburgh University and the
Goethe University of Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...
. Castro-Gómez is a public intellectual in Colombia whose work has been the subject of conferences and books, debates over Colombian identity, research on Latin American philosophy, as well as artistic installations. He is the author or co-editor of more than ten books, many of which have been reissued in new editions. As director of the Pensar Institute in Bogotá, he has led an initiative to engage the public, and specifically early public education, on the effects of racism and colonization in Colombian society. Alongside Aníbal Quijano, Walter Mignolo, Enrique Dussel, Ramón Grosfoguel, Catherine Walsh, Arturo Escobar, Edgardo Lander and Nelson Maldonado-Torres, Castro-Gómez was part of the "Modernity/Coloniality" group, a circle of Latin American critical theorists formed at the beginning of the 21st century. Castro-Gómez's work develops alternatives to dominant approaches and figures in Latin American Philosophy, an intervention he makes explicit in ''Critique of Latin American Reason'' (1996). In addition to colleagues like Aníbal Quijano and Walter Mignolo, his major influences include the
Frankfurt School The Frankfurt School is a school of thought in sociology and critical theory. It is associated with the University of Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, Institute for Social Research founded in 1923 at the University of Frankfurt am Main ...
,
Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...
,
Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault ( , ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French History of ideas, historian of ideas and Philosophy, philosopher who was also an author, Literary criticism, literary critic, Activism, political activist, and teacher. Fo ...
and
Gilles Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze (18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes o ...
. The work of Castro-Gómez explores the "frontiers" between
sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
,
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...
,
literary studies A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature's ...
and
cultural studies Cultural studies is an academic field that explores the dynamics of contemporary culture (including the politics of popular culture) and its social and historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers investigate how cultural practices rel ...
, while also reflecting on
methodological In its most common sense, methodology is the study of research methods. However, the term can also refer to the methods themselves or to the philosophical discussion of associated background assumptions. A method is a structured procedure for bri ...
and
epistemological Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowled ...
problems within the
social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...
s. In ''Zero-Point Hubris'', Castro-Gómez characterizes Rene Descartes' 1637 famous statement of "I think, therefore I am" as "the moment white Europeans installed themselves above God as the sole arbiters of knowledge and truth. With this turning point, they began to think of themselves as observers whose scientific methods, morals and ethics overrode those of other cultures."


Books in Spanish

* ''El tonto y los canallas: Notas para un republicanismo transmoderno'' (Bogotá: Universidad Javeriana, 2019). * ''Historia de la gubernamentalidad II. Filosofía, cristianismo y sexualidad en Michel Foucault'' (Bogotá: Siglo del Hombre Editores, 2016) * ''Revoluciones sin sujeto. Slavoj Zizek y la crítica del historicismo posmoderno''. D.F. (México: AKAL 2015). * ''Historia de la gubernamentalidad. Razón de estado, liberalismo y neoliberalismo en Michel Foucault'' (Bogotá: Siglo del Hombre Editores, 2010). * ''Tejidos Oníricos. Movilidad, capitalismo y biopolítica en Bogotá, 1910-1930'' (Bogotá: Universidad Javeriana 2009). * ''Genealogías de la colombianidad: formaciones discursivas y tecnologías de gobierno en los siglos XIX y XX,'' editores Santiago Castro-Gómez y Eduardo Restrepo (2008). * ''Reflexiones para una diversidad epistémica más allá del capitalismo global,'' editores Santiago Castro-Gómez y Ramón Grosfoguel (Siglo del Hombre Editores, 2007). * ''La poscolonialidad explicada a los niños'' (Editorial Universidad del Cauca, Popayán, 2005). * ''La hybris del punto cero. Ciencia, raza e ilustración en la Nueva Granada, 1750-1816'' (Bogotá: Universidad Javeriana, 2005). * ''Teorías sin disciplina: Latinoamericanismo, poscolonialidad y globalización en debate''. Santiago Castro-Gómez y Eduardo Mendieta (1998). * ''Crítica de la razón latinoamericana'' (Barcelona: Puvill Libros, 1996; segunda edición: Bogotá, Editorial Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, 2011).


Writings in English

*''Critique of Latin American Reason'', translated by Andrew Ascherl (Columbia University Press, 2021). *''Zero-Point Hubris: Science, Race, and Enlightenment in 18th-Century Latin America'', translated by Don T. Deere and George Ciccariello-Maher (Rowman & Littlefield International, 2021). *"The Missing Chapter of Empire: Postmodern Reorganization of Coloniality and Post-Fordist Capitalism" in ''Globalization and the Decolonial Option'' (Routledge 2009), pp. 282–302. *"(Post)Coloniality for Dummies: Latin American Perspectives on Modernity, Coloniality, and the Geopolitics of Knowledge" in ''Coloniality at Large: Latin America and the Postcolonial Debate'', edited by Mabel Moraña, Enrique Dussel, Carlos A. Jáuregui (Duke University Press, 2008). * "Latin American philosophy as critical ontology of the present: Themes and motifs for a 'critique of Latin American reason,'” In Eduardo Mendieta (ed.), ''Latin American Philosophy: Currents, Issues, Debates'' (Indiana University Press, 2003), pp. 68–79. * "The Social Sciences, Epistemic Violence, and the Problem of the 'Invention of the Other,'" trans. Desiree A. Martin, in ''Nepantla: Views from South'' (Duke University Press) Volume 3, Issue 2, 2002, pp. 269–285. *"The Cultural and Critical Context of Postcolonialism" in ''Philosophia Africana'' (Volume 5, Issue 2, August 2002), pp. 25–34. *"The Convergence of World-Historical Social Science, or Can There Be a Shared Methodology for World-Systems Analysis, Postcolonial Theory and Subaltern Studies?" (with Oscar Guardiola-Rivera) in ''The Modern/Colonial/Capitalist World-System In The Twentieth Century'' (Westport Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002), pp. 237–249. * “The Challenge of Postmodernity to Latin American Philosophy" in ''Latin America and Postmodernity: A Contemporary Reader'', edited by Pedro Lange-Churion, Eduardo Mendieta (Amherst: Humanity Books, 2001). *"Traditional and Critical Theories of Culture" in ''Nepantla: Views From South'' (Duke University Press, 2000), pp. 503–518. * "Traditional vs. Critical Cultural Theory," trans. Francisco González and Andre Moskowitz, in ''Cultural Critique'' No. 49, Critical Theory in Latin America (Autumn, 2001), pp. 139–154. *"Latin American Postcolonial Theories" in ''Peace Review'' (Taylor and Francis, 1998), pp. 27–33.


References


External links

* Page on Facebook fo
personal updates
*Audio of Santiago Castro-Gómez'
presentation at the "Michel Foucault y el oficio del genealogista" Conference
(in Spanish) * Article on Santiago Castro-Gómez
"Seguir al conejo blanco": Santiago Castro-Gómez y el oficio del genealogista"
*Discussion of Indigenisms: "Another Knowledge for Another World: Indigenous Reason Versus Colonial Reason,
Santiago Castro Gómez in conversation with Montserrat Galcerán
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro-Gomez, Santiago 1958 births Living people 20th-century Colombian philosophers 21st-century Colombian philosophers University of Tübingen alumni Goethe University Frankfurt alumni Academic staff of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Colombian expatriates in Germany 20th-century Colombian male writers 21st-century Colombian male writers Academics from Bogotá