ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the multilateralism of human rights as a political question. The idea is that the multilateralism of human rights is not taken for granted but rather seen as a concept that can attract multiple interpretations and rhetorical usages. The concept of sovereignty is used in the chapter to illustrate states’ commitment to multilateralism in the field of human rights, on the one hand, and the related debates regarding alternatives or opposition to multilateralism, on the other hand. The empirical materials consist mainly of the Human Rights Council (HRC) meeting records and related documents. The timeline is from 2006 onwards, but the empirical part is divided into four parts: the establishment of the new Council in 2006, the emergence of discussions on international cooperation regarding human rights in the early 2010s, and the renewed focus on multilateralism closer to the present day. The last empirical section deals with the opposition or alternatives to multilateralism. The chapter starts with an overall discussion on human rights, multilateralism, and the UN before moving on to consider human rights, state sovereignty, and multilateralism. The latter part of the chapter is devoted to the empirical analysis of multilateralism as norm, process, and outcome as interpreted through the HRC meeting records.
