Lieselotte Viaene

I am Belgian anthropologist with a PhD in Law (2011) and Professor at the Department of Social Science of Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain). Currently, I am coordinating the research project f RIVERS - Water/human rights beyond the human? Indigenous water ontologies, plurilegal encounters and interlegal translation (2019-2024), a Starting Grant of the European Research Council (ERC). Previously, I was Marie Curie Individual Fellow (2016-2018) at the Centre of Social Studies, University of Coimbra (Portugal). Since my Master’s thesis (2002), I have been collaborating with indigenous peoples in Peru, Guatemala, Ecuador and Colombia in diverse spaces (remote conflict-torn communities, regional and national organizations, indigenous lawyers’ groups). My professional path is marked by a combination of conducting innovative academic and applied research and working as a practitioner on complex and politically sensitive human rights issues such as transitional justice, legal pluralism, natural resources and territory, engaging directly with bridging theory-practice gaps from an interdisciplinary perspective. As a human rights practitioner, I worked, among others, at the Office of United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) in Ecuador (2010-2013) were I was responsible for the areas of collective rights and transitional justice.