This project investigates the evolution of labour rights in early modern European empires, focusing on how legal practices, governance systems, and labour regulations shaped modern constitutional states. Legal innovations, such as petitions, ordinances, and rulings, enabled local actors to mediate power between monarchs and communities, laying the foundation for recognising individuals as rights-bearing subjects. The research moves beyond free-market narratives to examine how coerced labourers and vagrants used petitions to drive governance reforms, transitioning imperial systems from patriarchal structures to rights-based frameworks. By analysing Spanish, Portuguese, and British empires through comparative legal analysis and intellectual history, the project redefines cameralism and the science of police as tools for governance. Linking historical insights with contemporary challenges, it proposes frameworks to address inequality, justice, and labour policies today.

2025

2028