Introduction

This chapter presents the ‘so-what’ question that drives this monograph: Why do Western European states promote international human rights norms? Some argue it is the result of a genuine commitment to global justice stemming from the lessons painfully learned in the Second World War. Others express the sceptical opinion that the international human rights system is of little or no relevance in international politics. Others critique it as yet another manifestation of Western imperialism. This chapter will suggest an alternative view to underline the inherently pluralistic, polysemic, political, agonistic, and conflictual nature of the international human rights system. That is the essence of Order-versus-Justice, the theoretical approach to be developed in the second chapter.