Progress is a commonly used but rarely investigated notion in international law discourse. This book explores what makes a given development appear as constituting progress in international law. By looking at three concrete case studies, it breaks away from established views and claims that the notion of progress may only acquire its meaning by means of non-objective (ideological) narratives that compete with or exclude alternative views.
International law discourse tends to deny or mask the non-objective character of its grand narratives of progress. Although progress narrative may be a useful discursive form, it is argued that its de-mystification may be an equally productive and meaningful form of international law argument and one that gives access to a different horizon of action and intellectual possibility.
