The Struggle for the Human Right to a Good Life for Everyone: Oscar Correas’s Legacy for the Crítica Jurídica Movement in Latin America
| DOI | 10.1177/0964663921999696 |
| Date | 01 February 2022 |
| Author | Cesar Villena,Mauro Cristeche |
| Published date | 01 February 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
The Struggle for the
Human Right to a Good
Life for Everyone
Oscar Correas’s Legacy
for the Cr´
ıtica Jur´
ıdica
Movement in Latin America
Mauro Cristeche
CONICET, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina; McGill University,
Canada
Cesar Villena
Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Abstract
Oscar Correas has been one of the promoters and main references of the Cr´
ıtica Jur´
ıdica
movement in Latin America due to his theoretical contributions and his permanent
activism to develop the movement. In this paper, we firstly review his vast academic and
intellectual career, and then we go through and analyse some of Correas’s main con-
tributions to the study of the law and the Marxist thought. Special focus will be given to:
(a) his approach to Marx’s works and its extension to the analysis of modern law; (b) his
understanding of Hans Kelsen’s theory; and (c) Correas’s critical contributions to the
debate on human rights. We aim to highlight the originality and wit of Oscar Correas’s
work, and its importance for the development of the legal critical studies and debates on
legal and human rights challenges from a critical perspective.
Keywords
Correas, Cr´
ıtica Jur´
ıdica, human rights, Kelsen, Marxism
Corresponding author:
Mauro Cristeche, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient´
ıficas y T´
ecnicas, Universidad Nacional de La
Plata, Buenos Aires C1033AAJ, Argentina.
Email: maurocristeche@gmail.com
Social & Legal Studies
ªThe Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/0964663921999696
journals.sagepub.com/home/sls
2022, Vol. 31(1) 119–137
Introduction
Oscar Correas Vazquez, who passed away in April 2020, was one of the most renowned
Marxist jurists in Latin America. Born in Argentina, where he took the first steps that
paved the way for a long career, he conducted most of his academic work in Mexico.
During his time there, he became one of the pioneers and main representatives of the
Crı
´tica Jurı
´dica movement in Latin America, even extend ing its influence to some
European countries, including Spain, France and England.
In spite of the importance of Correas’ writings, his work has been less studied – even
in Argentina and Latin America – than that of other intellectuals belonging to the Critical
Legal Studies movement, such as Duncan Kennedy, Peter Fitzpatrick and David Ken-
nedy. Indeed, Correas was not even particularly well known within Marxist legal schools
of thought which were, rather, more strongly influenced by Russian or French theorists.
Nevertheless, his contributions have been very influential for a generation of left-wing
and progressive jurists and political activists in Latin America.
While Correas published a huge number of books on Sociology of Law, Philosophy of
Law and Human Rights, he also conducted thorough analyses of a wide variety of topics
that are core concerns of critical legal studies, such as the relationship between Marxism
and the law, legal ideology, the role of lawyers, legal pluralism or the law of indigenous
peoples. In addition, he promoted the need to analyse societies and Latin American legal
systems from a situated perspective that accounted for the characteristic features of the
region. Although consistently choosing a Marxist perspective as a framework for his
contributions, Correas has always added his own original and controversial analyses,
drawn from a remarkable background in disciplines that are complementary to law:
namely, history, philosophy, sociology and economics.
Besides his academic rigour, he conceived law as a battlefield, and he expressed that
conception with political commitment, honouring a long-standing intellectual tradition
that avoids orthodoxy and commonplace thinking, presenting different perspectives with
an incisive tone but also with honesty and respect, in a constructive manner.
In what follows, we first review Oscar Correas’ academic and intellectual path and his
contributions to the Crı
´tica Jurı
´dica movement in Latin America. His academic educa-
tion took place during a very particular political context of Argentinian history, marked
by the radicalization of working-class movements and the growth of leftist ideas, while
his subsequent career developed in the period between the failure of ‘actually existing
socialism’ and the rise of neoliberalism. It is worth reviewing that background to better
understand Correas’ militant conception, as well as offering a brief overview of the
Critica Jurı
´dica movement in Latin America.
We will then go on to analyse some of Correas’ contributions that are considered as
part of his great legacy towards the development of critical legal studies and human
rights challenges because of their originality and their power to enrich critical
perspectives.
We will also examine his approach to Marx’s works and its extension to the analysis
of modern law, in order to see how Correas tries to underpin the strength of Marx’s
attempts to better understand the role of law in the capitalist society. These are signif-
icant contributions that seek to follow the path traced by Marx in The Capital but adding
120 Social & Legal Studies 31(1)
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