Cohort: ESOL 42

Topic of the thesis: Class and Social Origin Discrimination in Workplaces: A Labour Law Blind Spot?

Abstract: Recent research in economic sociology and organisational studies suggests that social origin continues to shape access to employment and career trajectories, exerting a direct effect on labour market outcomes. Yet these dynamics appear to remain only partially reflected in labour and anti-discrimination law. This PhD project aims to bring these two perspectives into dialogue, placing labour law at the centre of the inquiry to examine how legal frameworks might respond to inequalities rooted in social origin. The research explores the relationship between anti-discrimination law, traditionally focused on formal equal treatment and equality of opportunity, and the broader protective and redistributive functions of labour law. It considers whether recognising social origin as a protected ground may contribute to tackling class-based inequalities, and how these inequalities might also be approached through the institutions that structure employment relations, from collective bargaining and wage regulation to the organisation of work. Against this background, the project investigates the extent to which and the ways in which anti-discrimination law, redistributive policies and labour law can provide distinct or complementary avenues for addressing social-origin inequalities.  Drawing on doctrinal, comparative, and empirical methodologies in European contexts and beyond, the project examines the scope and limits of existing legal frameworks. Ultimately, the project seeks to assess whether and how labour law might address inequalities rooted in social origin within contemporary labour markets.

Research interests: Employment Relations and Labour Law; Socio-Economic Inequalities; Comparative Labour Law; Law and Empirical Labour Studies

Graduated from: University of Trento

Degrees obtained: Master’s Degree in Law (5-year program)

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