The rhetoric of work flexibility: A diatextual frame of Italian political discourse

This article deals with the discursive construction of work flexibility in Italy, through the analysis of the integral Italian White Paper on Occupation and of a corpus of 55 Editorials which discuss this topic in the pages of a popular Italian economic newspaper. Evident similarities have been registered between them as both texts are actually socio-political texts aimed at constructing and conveying a specific representation of work flexibility, thus proposing and supporting the reformation of the Italian labour market. Any difference has been discussed by making reference to the different kind of audience that the texts address: the expert audience of the Italian government for the White Paper and the more heterogeneous audience of mass communication for the editorials.