The Role of Labour Standards in Development: From Theory to Sustainable Practice? is a collection of essays, which examines the multi-faceted ways in which labour standards can play a role in the achievement of development.

Co-edited by Tonia Novitz (Professor of Labour Law at the University of Bristol Law School) and David Mangan (Lecturer in Obligations at the University of Leicester), this book draws on papers delivered at a conference sponsored by the British Academy in 2009. It is published by Oxford University Press for the British Academy. Podcasts of the original papers are available on the University of Bristol website.

The theme that transcends all the contributions to this collection is that of human agency. The authors are not merely interested in the realisation of an individual person's 'functioning' in society (which development will assist), but also with the ways that people can be engaged in the very process of defining what development aims should and can be. They do not wish to see economic, social and environmental development objectives as being determined by technical experts and implemented according to their prescriptions. Rather, they consider development in procedural as well as substantive terms, and in participatory as well as material terms.