Di prossima pubblicazione nel volume Il diritto del lavoro e la grande trasformazione - Paradigma, attori, regolazione, a cura di Bruno Caruso, Riccardo Del Punta, Tiziano Treu, Il Mulino Bologna.

The author deals with the topic of labour law’s inspiring values, which are discussed in their connection and co-evolution with the processes of transformation of the economic and social reality. Under this perspective of analysis, the author firstly takes a stand on the controversial relationship between labour law and the economic rationality in a broad sense. The presence of two basic approaches within the labour law culture, which are characterised by divergent views and attitudes on the market economy, is maintained (§ 2). The ways in which the discipline has responded to the neoliberal attack is then discussed (§ 3). Against this background, some arguments in favour of an “economically sustainable” labour law, which is aimed at reaching the best possible compromise between social and economic instances, along the thread of the enhancement of human labour, are put forward (§ 4). On the basis of the described context, the author comes back to the topic of labour law’s values, in order to suggest a constructive reinterpretation of the latter, which makes them more fit to the current processes of transformation, in particular as regards the non-paternalistic promotion of the worker’s autonomy and role. The Capabilities Approach is proposed as an ideal guide in view of such a revisiting (§ 5). The article is concluded by basic remarks about the implications of the suggested approach as regards the selection of the regulation techniques and the impact evaluations (§ 6).