The location of international practices: what is human rights practice?

Abstract

This article presents and critically assesses four methods that can be used to determine who and/or what counts as a part of any international practice: the agreement method, which locates a practice by referring to speech acts that define it; the contextual method, which locates a practice by referring to the actions, meanings and intentions of practitioners; the value method, which locates a practice by identifying a value or principle that the practice reflects or instantiates; and the purpose method, which locates a practice by constructing an account of the socio-political reason(s) for a practice's existence. The purpose method, based on Rawls' constructivism, is developed and applied, in order to challenge statecentrism about the purpose of human rights practice.