Susan Marks has devised a genealogical analysis of the notion of dignity and its title, Trucanini’s Stare: Reconsidering Dignity in Theory and Practice, is derived from the 2021 Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lectures at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge.

Chapter 1 illustrates the significance of dignity within the context of popular culture, commencing with the ethical melody and its multifaceted dimensions. It poses the essential inquiry: “Have you seen dignity?” The definitions and counter-definitions differ among bioethical frameworks and philosophical discussions. These pivotal discussions traverse from Toomey to Agamben and culminate in the assertion that dignity constitutes “an embodied performance and interactive practice”.

Chapter 2 reassess the philological examination of dignity, the word having originated from English, French, and its root in Latin. This chapter is grounded in legal inquiry and insights derived from metaphysical and historical contexts, transitioning to a critical examination of legal abstraction, encompassing basic laws to international legal domains. It concludes by highlighting Immanuel Kant’s perspective that human dignity constitutes a “universalist-humanoid abstraction”.

Chapter 3 centres on “Trucanini’s Dignity”, illuminating the colonial history of Trucanini and her people while presenting re-examined narratives on life. It demonstrates the “native dignity” and elucidates its necessity for such a community prior to its vanishing and discusses the extensive scientific documentation and its significance through the reinterpretation of histories, photographs, exhibitions, and performances. It concludes by re-examining the concept, both in its visual expression and its emotional embodiment.

Chapter 4 explores the era of colonial India, where collocative meanings arise from both dignity and power. Self-respect, self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-assertiveness constitute the fundamental elements of knowledge co-production and its implementation. Paradoxically, the counter-conceptualization of colonial dignity involves transcribing old Indian languages into a language of dignity. In summary, the localization of dignity functioned as a form of resistance that emancipated subalternities from exploitation and domination.

Chapter 5 considers human dignity and the right to sanitation in contemporary society. The conflict over inadequate sanitation is exemplified by limited access to proper toilet facilities, extending from Cape Town to the Amazon, and from Durban to Johannesburg. Consequently, access to sanitation equates to access to dignity and justice, as sanitation embodies dignity.

Chapter 6 examines the counter-history of dignity, addressing countries including the USA, UK, Australia, and India, before arriving in Africa. This journey exemplifies the global evolution of dignity. Marks asserts that the tangible dimensions and realities of dignity provide a secular viewpoint, and that a facet of dignity is to struggle against domination. The book delineates, operationalizes, and elucidates the concept of revolutionary dignity and has integrated anthropological methodologies such as ethnography and visualization into innovative legal research. Finally, it introduces the term “dignitarianism”, initiating a new phase in the exploration of human dignity, characterized as a “dignitarian” approach to human rights, and exemplified by the “treatment of individuals based on their inherent dignity”. Long live dignitarianism!