DIGNITY UNDER LAW: A GLOBAL HANDBOOK FOR CIVIL SOCIETY

Dignity Rights International

69 Pages Posted: 17 Jan 2025

See all articles by James R. May

James R. May

Washburn University - Washburn University School of Law; Widener University Delaware Law School; Haub School of Law at Pace University

Erin Daly

Widener University Delaware Law School

Date Written: June 14, 2021

Abstract

Human dignity refers to the equal worth of every member of the human family, like a coin that a person has at birth that they can never lose. Every coin is identical in value, but it is unique to each person. Dignity is the foundation of all human activity: our sense of dignity animates how seek to advance well-being and human flourishing, improve the conditions of life, and protect against harm and humiliation. Appreciating human dignity is essential to the protection of human rights and to the spread of a human rights culture. When people own their equal and inalienable human dignity, they can claim their rights, individually and in solidarity with others.
Claiming rights is itself an expression of human dignity and, in turn, it prompts the adoption and implementation of policies that allow people to live in greater dignity. Dignity rights are the rights – recognized in international and constitutional law – that flow from the recognition of human dignity. These include civil, political, social,
economic, cultural, and environmental rights. Dignity rights exist to protect the value of each person’s unique coin. This Handbook provides tools to engage in the protection of human dignity to help spread a human rights culture and to enhance the ability of people around the world to live with dignity.

Keywords: Dignity Rights, Environmental Rights, Human Dignity, International and Constitutional Law

Suggested Citation

May, James and Daly, Erin, DIGNITY UNDER LAW: A GLOBAL HANDBOOK FOR CIVIL SOCIETY (June 14, 2021). Dignity Rights International, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5097253 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5097253

James May (Contact Author)

Washburn University - Washburn University School of Law ( email )

1700 SW College Ave.
Topeka, KS 66621
United States

Widener University Delaware Law School ( email )

4601 Concord Pike
Wilmington, DE 19803-0406
United States

Haub School of Law at Pace University ( email )

78 N. Broadway
White Plains, NY 10603
United States

Erin Daly

Widener University Delaware Law School ( email )

4601 Concord Pike
Wilmington, DE 19803-0406
United States
302-477-2143 (Phone)
304-477-2257 (Fax)

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