The Governance of Loss in the European Union

Objective

GovLoss-EU conceptualizes the governance of loss as a key area of regulatory intervention at times of rapid economic transformation linked to globalization, technological, and climate change. These processes displace market and production arrangements that are long-standing, thus creating losers: workers, businesses, and consumers whose livelihoods depend on (or who otherwise value) the displaced arrangements. As losers’ demands grow louder in the face of these transformations, deciding whether to accommodate said demands, if so which ones, and how to do so, grows more urgent. Yet, legal scholars and social scientists devote sporadic attention to laws and policies that assist losers in transformation processes. GovLoss-EU closes this gap by providing a comprehensive mapping of legal interventions that assist losers, their contribution to various desiderata, regulatory techniques employed, and how they work on the ground. The project breaks new grounds at three levels: normative; conceptual; and methodological. Normatively, GovLoss-EU provides a yet uncharted articulation of arguments why losers may deserve assistance. Conceptually, the project theorizes a new body of law, the law of the governance of loss, defined by its aptitude to assist losers, for example by slowing down the pace of change, compensating losers’ suffering, or empowering their economic re-integration. Methodologically, the project combines political and social theory, doctrinal legal analysis, and socio-legal research: theory-building is supported by empirical findings derived from the study of how loss is governed in three regime complexes affected by transformations: agriculture and fishing; the automotive industry; consumer services. GovLoss-EU pioneers a new policy paradigm whereby losers’ demands cease to work as regressive forces feeding inaction or backlash and are translated into legal arrangements that support more progressive and inclusive economic transformations.