The racial dignity research project: Phase 2 report. Supporting Australian organisations to name and identify the micro-practices of (in)dignity in organisations: A pilot

Racial dignity is the metaphorical garment that clothes us. Without Dignity, our humanity is rendered vulnerable, weak or loose.

This report summarises the findings of phase 2 of a research project funded by the Australian Research Council through a DECRA Fellowship. Phase 2 focused on developing, piloting, and refining the Racial Dignity and Racial Indignity Framework as a practice tool to identify the micro-practices of racial indignity and support the affirmation of racial dignity in everyday organisational life. Building on the findings from Phase 1, this phase aimed to operationalise the core concepts of racial dignity by partnering with community and human service organisations across Australia. Through a participatory and Afrocentric approach, the research explored how micro-practices, that is, small, everyday actions and relational dynamics, can affirm or deny dignity in various institutional settings. By trialling the framework in real-world contexts, Phase 2 generated practical insights and evidence-informed strategies to support organisations, practitioners, and policymakers in fostering cultures of care, recognition, and respect for racially minoritised people.

This research builds upon the insights, perspectives, and lived experiences of one of Australia’s most systemically disadvantaged migrant communities to examine a fundamental contradiction embedded in Australian society and institutions. Participant reflections in Phase 1, show how the prevalent use of diversity language in Australian organizations, which profess to welcome, value, and include everyone regardless of race, stands in opposition to the lived experiences of racialized people who are routinely excluded, devalued, and denied dignity in these environments.  To critically engage with this contradiction, the study proposes the concept of racial dignity, which elucidates how race operates as a fundamental determinant of who is automatically afforded dignity and who must persistently earn, defend, or fight to reclaim it in everyday organizational life. By positioning dignity as central to the genuine attainment of inclusion, this research offers a deeper understanding of how racially minoritised communities cultivate dignity in institutions where it is largely defined and granted through Eurocentric norms.

In Phase 2, the Racial Dignity and Racial Indignity Frameworks were piloted in organizations that had committed to developing racial literacy to work safely with minoritized and marginalised people and communities. This pilot phase allowed the research to examine how dignity was affirmed or denied in practice. The resulting findings offered crucial insights into the possibilities and challenges within organizational settings and provided evidence-based guidance for integrating dignity-centered micro-practices.