Hybrid: Book Launch - The Oxford Handbook of the Law of Work

About the event

At the core of all societies and economies are human beings deploying their energies and talents in productive activities – that is, at work. The law governing human productive activity is a large part of what determines outcomes in terms of social justice, material wellbeing, and the sustainability of both. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that work is heavily regulated.

The new Oxford Handbook of the Law of Work examines the ‘law of work’, a term that is meant to include all aspects of labour law (employment legislation, collective labour law, workplace discrimination law, the law regulating the contract of employment, and international labour law), as well as discussions on the contested boundaries and efforts to expand the scope of some laws regulating work beyond the traditional boundaries. The Handbook offers a comprehensive review and analysis, both theoretical and critical, of these topics. It includes 60 chapters, written by leading work law scholars from all over the world, and divided into four parts. Part A establishes the fundamentals, including the historical development of the law of work, why it is needed, the conceptual building blocks, and the unsettled boundaries. Part B considers the core concerns of the law of work, including the contract of employment doctrines, main protections in employment legislation, the regulation of collective relations, discrimination, and human rights. Part C looks at the international and transnational dimension of the law of work. The final Part examines overarching themes, including discussion of recent developments such as gig work, online work, artificial intelligence at work, sustainable development, amongst others.

At the event, six of the Handbook contributors will present their chapters. These presentations will be divided into two sessions. In each session, the presentations will be followed by critical remarks from a discussant, before opening for general discussion with the audience. The Handbook’s editors will give some words of introduction and chair the sessions.  

Speakers

• Brian Langille (University of Toronto)
• Simon Deakin (University of Cambridge)
• Virginia Mantouvalou (University College London)
• Hugh Collins (London School of Economics)
• Anne Davies (University of Oxford)
• Manoj Dias-Abey (University of Bristol)
• Sandra Fredman (University of Oxford)

Chair

• Guy Davidov (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
• Gillian Lester (Columbia University)  

Discussant 

• Ruth Dukes (University of Glasgow)
• Diamond Ashiagbor (University of Kent)

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