Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HuDig19 (Making Humans: Human Dignity in Nineteenth-Century France)
Reporting period: 2021-10-01 to 2023-09-30
Nowadays, human dignity refers to the absolute and equal worthiness of all human beings. It is the cornerstone of the international human rights regime and a basic principle of E.U nations. It is also a fundamental criterion in privacy law, bioethics and AI regulation. This sharp contrast with its previous use in nineteenth-century France is critical for our current democratic societies since it reveals two fundamental aspects. On the one hand, the intuition according to which human beings should be equally respected is much more recent (and fragile) as one would imagine. Second, the category of the "human" is not per se progressive and equalitarian. It depends on other social and cultural elements that will provide its political orientation.
The Objectives of the Action have been to (a) show how, in the 19th century, human dignity was relevant in the making of people's moral character, the latter being understood as a key element for the progress of a nation; (b) to demonstrate how human dignity relied on a twofold process: some (e.g bourgeoisie) were humanity, while others (e.g colonized nations, women, working class) had an incomplete humanity; and (c) to conceive our currrent and future struggles for equality and justice, as new forms of "politics of dignity". Taking into account the rapid changes regarding climate change and new technologies in our post-pandemic times, these objectives (c), have gained a greater relevance during the Action.
The Fellow was appointed as a Researcher at: (a) the Centre de Théorie et Analyse du Droit,C.N.R.S (Paris) and (b) the Center for Contemporary Critical Theory, at Columbia University (New-York).]
The Results of the Action are (b) a book on human dignity. This monograph co-edited by the Fellow challenges our basic comprehension of human dignity and call for a reexamination of the idea; (b) academic papers related to contemporary "politics of dignity" in the fields of new tecnololgies, social justice and climate crisis (c) A high impact dissemination strategy engaging with international public media, on the need to protect our human agency regarding the develpment of Artificial Intelligence. Also, the Fellow is deeply involved with the EURAXESS network, promoting the E.U Horizon Europe Postdoctoral Fellowships in an online event.
The Action has also led to the creation (in 2023) of an International Research Consortium: "Human Dignity, New Technologies and Climate Resilience". The Consortium involves researchers from the Law School of the University Leicester (UK), the Philosophy Departement of the Erasmus University of Rotterdam (NL), the Law School of PUC-Rio University (BR), the Catholic University of Lille (FR), and EHESS Paris (FR).The Consortium providing a transdiciplinary approach that aims at uptading the notion of human dignity regarding two main challenges: the climate crisis and new technologies.
The online and media coverage has also enabled to disseminate strategically new concepts resulting from the Action. In particular, the notion of "AI-Free Sanctuaries", namely, the creation of spaces free from Artificial Intelligence, has been published (in three languages) in the online Journal "The Conversation". Data show that 9,663 readers have been reading the pieces of the Fellow (on Nov. 2023).
Impacts anticipated from the Action are : the inclusion of a novel concept, "Biodignity" in international/political debates, especially regarding the impacts of human societies on climate change; the progressive use of "AI Free Sanctuaries" in the fields of Artificial Intelligence regulations ; (c) the comprehension of human dignity as the cornestone of global democracy and human rights.