Labour Law, Technology, and the Attack on the Rules-Based-Order

In Labour Law, Technology, and the Attack on the Rules-Based-Order, Prof. De Stefano highlights that the fight over technology is a fight over democracy – especially in the workplace. He shows the parallels between authoritarian thinking of tech moguls in Silicon Valley and authoritarian thinking about workplace relations. 

The paper brings those two strands of thought together in an analysis of the digital transformation of workplaces across Europe, where opaque data-driven systems increasingly monitor and discipline the workforce, with little transparency and few opportunities for worker co-decision or contestation. 

As Prof. De Stefano points out, this top-down digital transformation exacerbates authoritarian forms of management and undermines democracy, at work and beyond. Because what happens at work does not stay at work. People who are denied voice at autonomy in their jobs are less likely to exercise them as citizens. 

Therefore, in response, he argues against deregulation of digital technology. To the contrary, he calls for stronger labour law regulations over technologies like AI and algorithmic management. Not just to protect worker privacy, but to protect democracy itself. 

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Watch Prof. Valerio De Stefano's keynote speech at the Future of Quality Jobs and Workplace AI: Regulation for Innovation” on 11 December 2025.