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Let’s talk about you: what is your background, what do you teach, and what are your research interests?.
I was born in Sicily in 1985. When I was 18, I moved to Pisa to study law. After obtaining my PhD in Milan, I worked as a labour lawyer. I was a junior researcher at the University of Genoa. For the last three years I have been working at the Department of Management at Ca' Foscari. I teach Italian and international labour law and social security law. I have always been passionate about industrial relations law, both mainstream issues (such as the repression of anti-union conduct) and more niche ones (such as trade unionism in the military). For some years now I have been working on the specific discipline of labour relations in public enterprises, on which I wrote my first monograph. For some time now I have been working on labour and digital platforms.

What are you most passionate about in your research?
Labour law, industrial relations law and social security law are fascinating because they regulate conflicting or unbalanced relationships which are typical of the capitalist economic system. These are research areas where technical analysis cannot be separated from sociological or political considerations. Studying these issues makes you clearly and realistically understand the relationship between business and labour. This enables managers to better organise their business activities and personnel.

Have you always known that this was going to be your path?
I have always loved studying and researching, but I did not always aim to work in universities. Being a lawyer also excited me. If I look back, however, I realise that I have always followed my instincts and made choices that led me to my current job.

What do teaching and researching mean to you?
I teach because I like to communicate and involve others in learning about the phenomena I study and in understanding interpretation techniques. I also teach because I believe that spreading the knowledge of law and its method can improve the world. Teaching law to management students, from this point of view, is a mission and a privilege. Research for me is discovering and revealing what you see but do not fully understand. It is a tool to look at old phenomena with new eyes. This effort can sometimes help change things for the better.

Can you offer any advice to researchers in the early stages of their career?
Researching is a vocation, not just a professional career. You never stop being a researcher and you need a lot of patience because results come slowly and because the journey can also be paved with defeats or wrong or unsuccessful choices. This is an activity where you are required to exercise as much freedom as possible in the interests of advancing knowledge. Learning to manage this freedom is a fascinating challenge.

Last update: 27/02/2024