The Eye of the Beholder? The Contestation of Values and International Law

Abstract

The chapter comments on Tiyanjana Maluwa’s analysis of the contestation of value-based norms. It first, referring to the metaphor of the ‘eyes of the beholder’ and the song by Metallica with the same title, answers the question ‘Do I see what you see?’ Second, it is interested in coming closer to an intersubjective ‘truth’, that is a shared understanding for determining the alleged erosion of international law or the value-based legal norms of the United Nations (UN) Charter. By focusing on one of Maluwa’s case studies, it illustrates how conceptual choices may predetermine findings. In other words, they guide ‘into what you read’. Finally, it argues in favour of being more explicit about these choices to let others ‘see what I see’ and therefore to be transparent about the type and form of contestation one seeks to explain.