The development sector proclaims that it values dignity. Yet it often breaks this promise, with people leaving encounters with charities feeling bruised and unseen.
In this podcast, drawn from a recent lecture at IDS, research fellow Marina Apgar is in conversation with Tom Wein from the IDinsight Dignity Initiative who examines dignity as a core value around the world.
Drawing on his in-progress research for his future book Lives of Dignity, Tom explores how dignity serves as both a universal human value and a practical principle for improving development outcomes and offers compelling evidence that dignity matters deeply to people worldwide.
Listen to the podcast
Among the questions Tom answers include:
- How can we measure dignity within charities or in health care?
- What is the difference between respect and dignity?
- How do you categorise different types of dignity.
The podcast outlines arguments and proposed case studies from organisations working in Kenya, Uganda, Senegal and beyond, and reflects on how development practitioners can translate dignity from abstract concept to concrete practice for diagnosing dignity violations and building organisational cultures that genuinely respect the people they aim to serve.
About the interviewee
Tom is a Director at IDinsight, based in London, UK. He joined IDinsight in January 2022 and leads research and advocacy on dignity and respect in international development.
Tom has 15 years of experience leading research in the Global South. Prior to joining IDinsight, he founded The Dignity Project, a campaign for more respectful international development.
About the interviewer
Marina Apgar is co-director of the Centre for Development Impact and has led evaluation research in a number of large participatory research programmes, including the CLARISSA systemic action research programme focused on the worst forms of child labour, the Tomorrow’s Cities GCRF Interdisciplinary Research Hub and the Vestibule de la Paix peacebuilding programme.
About the Between the Lines podcast
This podcast series explores ground-breaking ideas in development for positive social and environmental change. Each month we feature an interview with an expert in international development who will talk about their latest research and ideas.
Episodes content could feature authors of new books, IDS research or interviews with special guest stars.
The discussions give an insight on the themes covered, exploring the challenges and discoveries, and why the issues matter for progressive and sustainable development globally.
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