Capabilities Approaches and Labour Law through a Relational and Restorative Regulatory Lens

Human capability development approaches, whether in variants rooted in the theories of Amartya Sen ('fundamental capabilities and functionings') or Martha C Nussbaum ('central capabilities'), can make an important contribution to the principled evolution of both restorative justice practices in workplaces and restorative labour market regulation writ large. Restorative approaches grounded in relational values of equality, dignity, mutual concern, and respect, and flex/stability dovetail with the key elements of human capability development theory. These theoretical foundations allow one to explain the essential nature of existing practical, but sophisticated, multi-level approaches to dispute resolution in workplaces. This can occur via adjudication, mediation/arbitration, restorative workplace conferencing, and varying degrees of enterprise co-regulation. These same theoretical foundations can ground broad restorative labour market regulation. this involves the legal construction of varieties of personal work relations, supported by coordinated social and economic policies, which can enhance competitive and efficient enterprises while promoting individual and collective human flourishing. Exploration of these notions and their inter-relationship in both theory and practice constitutes the essence of subsequent sections of this chapter.