Introduction

Abstract

Abstract This chapter outlines the rationale for bringing together legitimacy and practice theory and introduces the concept of legitimation practices. The formal rules of the Security Council tell us little about how decisions are negotiated, so to understand decision-making we need to analyse informal practices. Traditional approaches to the relationship between legitimacy and the Security Council focus on the legitimacy, or otherwise, of the Security Council as an institution and its decisions. Instead, this book analyses the ways in which legitimation shapes the process and outcome of negotiations. It introduces the concepts of internal legitimation practices which relate to the legitimation of decisions, such as prioritizing unanimity, and external legitimation practices which relate to the legitimation of actors in the negotiations, such as maintaining consistent arguments. Foregrounding legitimation practices sheds light on seemingly contradictory moments within Security Council decision-making. The chapter also introduces the case study of the book which is the Security Council’s decisions in responding to atrocities in Darfur in the west of Sudan. It sets out the methodology of the book, which draws on a wide range of primary and secondary sources, including original interviews with diplomats, and sets out the structure of the book.