ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 provides the theoretical approach that will ground the critique of the ideology of the discourses about the legitimacy of the IACtHR. The chapter provides an overview of critical legal studies in international law. It focuses on presenting the critical legal studies strand and its contribution to grasping law as a legal profession with self-validation flaws. Notably, it provides information about legal Marxism and centres on the definition of ideology critique and false contingency as the main tools to analyse the two legal discourses on the legitimacy of the IACtHR. Finally, the chapter presents arguments that justify why critical legal theory in tandem with legal Marxism are relevant tools to grasp the Latin American debate on the legitimacy of the Court.
