Project description
When human dignity was nothing but a sentiment
The concept of human dignity refers to the right of every person to be respected and treated ethically. It is a value shared by all EU Member States and treated as a keystone safeguarding equality and justice for all citizens. Recent studies have revealed that the concept of human dignity in the 19th century did not always entail social justice or equality. Its definition as a ‘sentiment’ resulted in several inequalities to women. The EU-funded HuDig19 project will explore these surprises, focusing on France in the 19th century. It will explain the attitude toward human dignity as a ‘sentiment’ and research cases of gender inequalities regarding women's citizenship rights.
Objective
Human dignity refers to the intrinsic worthiness of the human being, which renders all individuals equal bearers of rights. It is a shared value of the European Member States and the cornerstone of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Modern scholarship has relied on an uncontested paradigm: the recognition of the intrinsic worthiness of the human being necessarily entails social justice and the equality of all individuals. This approach is nonetheless unsuitable for examining human dignity in the nineteenth century, a time period that has been insufficiently explored. HuDig19 focuses on the case of France and reveals fascinating discoveries. Human dignity was defined as a sentiment, a conception that does not bear any historical precedents. Human dignity was deployed to humanize certain people while downgrading the humanity of others. Human dignity was also used to conceal inequalities and to justify injustices. To explain those startling findings, HuDig19 adopts a novel critical theory approach and explores untapped nineteenth-century sources. The idea of human dignity has never been studied in such an archival and critical ways. HuDig19 focuses on the following research objectives: a) To unveil why human dignity was conceived as a sentiment b) to explain its emotional regime c) to examine whether human dignity was used to justify inequalities d) to reveal how it was used to strip women of their citizenship and e) to update our contemporary conception of human dignity. HuDig19 open new interdisciplinary perspectives for the studies of a value that defines our democracies. HuDig19 is carried out by Prof. Antonio Pele, who has developed strong expertise on human dignity. The primary supervisor, Prof. Bernard E. Harcourt, is a leading scholar in critical theory. The co-supervisor, Prof. Arnaud Esquerre is a renowned scholar in historical sociology. HuDig19 is implemented in the remarkable infrastructure of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
75270 Paris
France