The relationship between sovereignty and rights is both complementary and competitive. The emergence of a field of international protection of rights undermines state sovereignty, contributing to a more comprehensive protection of rights holders. At the same time, the emergence of a field of international economic governance undermines the safeguarding of rights at the state level, with state sovereignty presenting itself as their guarantor. These two dimensions of the relationship between sovereignty and rights cannot be examined separately. Each illuminates particular aspects of sovereignty and its relationship with democracy. The equation of reduced sovereignty equating to greater protection of rights often proves ineffective. Neither does the opposite equation, according to which maintaining state sovereignty intact results in greater protection of rights, hold true in every case, as shown by instances where the state perceives an issue as falling under its sovereign jurisdiction and thus outside the realm of rights, while international judicial bodies view it as a matter concerning the protection of rights. At a more fundamental level, the conflict between sovereignty and rights reveals the irreducible nature of otherness, the challenge it poses for a legal discourse that is unilaterally instrumental-managing. The texts in this volume attempt to analyze the complex relationship among these three dimensions from the perspective of the theory and philosophy of law and political theory.