Promotie Jante Schmidt

Jante Schmidt verdedigt haar proefschrift The Dignity Circle. Towards a non-ideal approach of social dignity in the context of marginalisation and care.

Promotoren: Evelien Tonkens en Margo Trappenburg

Engelse samenvatting

‘Human dignity’ is a much used yet elusive concept. As it forms the basis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights it is ofted invoked as a moral reference point for policy and practice. However, while the notion of inherent human dignity of all persons can be a source of inspiration, the concept is too abstract to actually offer practical guidance in everyday life. This conundrum, as it pertains to public health, motivates this dissertation. To fulfill the aim of making human dignity more applicable for practice the still underdeveloped notion of ‘social dignity’: dignity as a contingent quality that can be lost and gained in interactions, is operationalized. The study, set in the Netherlands, investigates understandings and experiences of (in)dignity of citizens in a marginalized position due to multiple socio-economic and psycho-social problems, as well as those of social workers that provide them with care and support. Based on empirical insight a novel approach to social dignity is developed: one that does not focus on ideal-theoretical norms for dignity promotion but that considers non-ideal constraints on feasibility and unintended consequences that make dignity promotion so challenging in day-to-day practice, especially in the context of marginalisation and care.

Lees (woensdag) het nieuwsbericht Hoe maak je sociaal beleid daadwerkelijk menswaardiger?