Who is the person of labour law? Reflections on personhood as a project of utopian hope

This article argues for the importance of the utopian method in understanding labour law’s weaknesses and in explaining why labour law cannot achieve the (social justice) goals that it sets for itself. In particular it highlights the importance of adopting the utopian method for labour law through embracing the alternative ontology that this method suggests. This alternative ontology focuses on the relationality and sociality of human nature and the interest of all in visions for the future. Adopting this alternative ontology would allow us to overcome the constraints of liberal legal subjectivity and lead to better social justice outcomes for workers.