The Legal Concept of Work

"Why do we think about some practices as work, and not others? Why do we classify certain capacities as economically valuable skills, and others as innate characteristics? What, moreover, is the role of law in shaping our answers to these questions?" These are just some of the queries explored by Zoe Adams's analysis of the legal construction, and regulation, of work. Spanning from the 14th century to the present day, The Legal Concept of Work explores how the role of law and legal concepts comes to consider some forms of human labour as work, and some forms of human labour as non-work. It examines why perceptions of these activities can change over time, and how legal constitution impacts the way in which work comes to be regulated, organised, and valued. As part of the analysis, the book presents a series of case studies, ranging from the publishing industry, academia, medicine, and retail, with a view of illustrating some of the regulatory challenges different types of work face, in the context of capitalism.

1 - The Legal Constitution of Work
2 - Law, Capitalism, and the Function(s) of Work
3 - Work and Employment Status: Juridical Conceptions of Dependent Working Relations
4 - Work and Time
5 - A History of Management
6 - Work, Non-Work, Care and Gender
7 - Creative Work: A History of Book Publishing
8 - Academic Work
9 - Medical Work
10 - Retail Work

Zoe Adams, Fellow and Admissions Tutor, King's College, University of Cambridge; Affiliated Lecturer of Law, University of Cambridge. Zoe Adams has a BA from Pembroke College, Cambridge, an LLM from the European University Institute in Florence, and a PhD from Pembroke College Cambridge. Her academic interests lie primarily in the realm of labour law, legal theory, legal methodology, social ontology, and law and economics. Her work places a particular emphasis on the relationship between law and capitalism, and the implications of this for the struggle for structural change. She is Fellow and Admissions Tutor at King's College Cambridge, and an Affiliated Lecturer in Law at the University of Cambridge. She teaches labour law, tort law, and law and economics.