Journal article
Racial dignity framework: Advancing dignity-led thinking and practice in Australia
The British journal of social work, Vol.55(6), pp.2796-2815
09/2025
Appears in Recent Faculty of Health Publications
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Abstract
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights Charter recognizes that all human beings have ‘inherent dignity’; they are ‘born free and have equal and inalienable rights’ (Universal Declaration of Human Rights Charter, 1948). This article explores an important contradiction: the idea that all people possess equal, inherent dignity versus the reality that race, a social construct, creates categories that assign unequal worth to those who are racialized within colonial modernities. To grapple with this contradiction, this article introduces the concept of Racial Dignity, which demonstrates how race profoundly shapes who is afforded dignity as a given and who must struggle for it. The Racial Dignity Framework (RDF) functions as both a theoretical lens and a practical approach to analyse how racialized experiences of exclusion and (non)belonging impact a person’s sense of worth. Drawing from critical theories and, in particular, Jacobsen's conceptualization of bodily dignity, the RDF is operationalized through an examination of how dignity is fostered or undermined through micro-practices of i) humanization, ii) affirming everyday relational practices, iii) sociocultural experiences, and iv) self-determination.
Details
- Title
- Racial dignity framework: Advancing dignity-led thinking and practice in Australia
- Creators
- Kathomi Gatwiri - Southern Cross University
- Publication Details
- The British journal of social work, Vol.55(6), pp.2796-2815
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Grant note
- This research was funded by the Australian Research Council under the DECRA scheme. Grant number DE230101177.
- Identifiers
- 991013279611002368
- Copyright
- © The Author(s) 2025
- Academic Unit
- Centre for Children and Young People; Social Work; Faculty of Health
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article