Abstract
The aim of this paper is to investigate the construction of the concepts of ‘vulnerable workers’ and ‘precarious work’, and to look at the implications of that construction for the regulation of workers at the ‘bottom of the labour market’. It aims to move beyond the current literature in three ways. Firstly, the paper investigates not simply the conceptual separation between ‘vulnerable workers’ and ‘precarious work’ – which, to some extent, has already been identified – but analyses in detail the theoretical and political standpoints which have influenced this separation. This involves an assessment of how far these different concepts have aligned themselves with the discourses of economic efficiency, social justice and human rights which underscore much of modern theorising on the value and use of labour law. Secondly, the paper investigates the difficulties and contradictions within and between these different theoretical and political standpoints and the possible contribution this has made to the difficulties of designing a comprehensive system of regulation for vulnerable workers and precarious work. Finally, the paper will analysis the reinforcement of these difficulties and contradictions by the different influences at different geographical levels (national, EU and ILO), which have tended to treat this problem in particular ways.
