Gerarchie dell’uguaglianza. Diritto comune, lavoro e tecnica nell’Ottocento

Hierarchies under Formal Equality. General Law, Labour, and Technology in the Nineteenth Century This article reads the relation between law and technology through the lens of boundary governance in nineteenth-century labour: between person and performance, autonomy and dependence, rule and exception, general law and special regimes. It argues that the opposition liberal arts/mechanical arts and the polarity natural/artificial operate not merely as descriptive vocabularies but as ordering devices that redistribute dignity, trustworthiness, and responsibility under conditions of formal equality. By tracing the legal translation of hierarchies (hire of services vs mandate), the article highlights continuities and tensions within codified private law and its commentaries. It then examines infrastructural hybrids (telegraphy, ‘workers of the intellect’) and the emergence of technical-functional subordination. Finally, technology becomes legally visible through injury and hazard, culminating in insurance-based protection as a key mechanism for governing exceptions; one that resonates with present transformations.