NORMATIVITY AND VULNERABILITY: STARTING FROM LEGAL PRACTICES. GUEST EDITORS’ PREFACE

Over the last decade, the juridical-philosophical notion of vulnerability has met with considerable success, both in terms of theoretical reflection and of concrete legal application. Much of this success is due to its critical-hermeneutical use, aimed not only at identifying and protecting indi- viduals or groups particularly exposed and vulnerable, but also and above all, at adapting and directing the legislation concerning the protection of fundamental human rights. In this sense, the legal use of the notion of vulnerability is an integral part of the process of constitutionalization of the human person that characterizes the European legal systems since the second post-war period and which assumes, as its main purpose, the application of the protective mask of the law to the concrete individuals.