Abstract

As a scholar of social security law – a subject whose guiding star is the concept of citizenship, combined with the principle of substantial equality and solidarity – the author tries to outline with the tip of a pencil some crucial moments in the evolution of labor law masterfully described by Umberto Romagnoli, to then compare it with what happens on the hidden side of the moon, in the hemisphere of social security. What emerges is that the keystone of the social protection system is contained in the relationship between citizenship rights, what we call social rights, and work. The challenge of a socially sustainable society is essentially played on a delicate balance, in the intermediate space between work and activity, between social citizenship and occupational welfare.