Is the Capability Theory an Adequate Normative Theory for Labour Law?

The chapter argues how the capability approach, taken essentially as a normative theory, can contribute towards providing a new and updated foundation for labour law. The conditions on the basis of which a political theory may be relevant to labour law are first discussed, while acknowledging that a unique theory cannot provide a justification for all labour law but, rather, for specific laws. As regards the discipline’s classical core, which is aimed at compensating the inequality of power inherent to the employment relationship, that is, at reducing (although never eliminating) the level of the employer’s domination over the employee in Pettit’s perspective, it is argued that these norms can also be interpreted in terms of the capability theory, provided that the latter goes beyond its methodological individualism and deals with the dimension of power inside social relationships. However, the theoretical gains provided by this interpretation do not seem decisive. Instead, it is argued that the latest generation of labour laws has proposed new regulatory perspectives that can be seen as aimed at promoting the workers’ capabilities. The volume of essays “The Capability Approach to Labour Law”, in which this chapter is included, is the first to explore how capability approach might shed light upon labour law. The volume collects researches and studies presented on October 20-21, 2017, at the international seminar “Labour law meets the capability approach” held at the University of Toronto. The volume in which this chapter is included was presented on April 11, 2019 at the Univeristy of Florence. An earlier version of this paper was presented by the Author on June 6, 2018, in a research seminar at the University of Warwick.